Lost Son of Konoha
by Fury Cutter
Summary: NarutoFinal Fantasy VII Xover. Shunned and betrayed by his people he was banished from his home and told to never return. Now by a twist of fate 15 years later he must return to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. His name: Cloud Strife
1. Trailer

_Naruto  
_Final Fantasy VII:  
Lost Son of Konoha

AN Whilst reading try to imagine the theme to Final Fantasy VII playing in the background

* * *

Gates of Konoha open and we see a bruised and bleeding Naruto carrying Sasuke on his back after their battle at the Valley of the End

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_Naruto Uzumaki, you have been found guilty for the attempted murder of Sasuke Uchiha, the last of the Uchiha clan. You are hereby banished form the city of Konoha and its territories for the rest of your natural life. If you are found anywhere within city limits you will be killed on site._

* * *

Naruto walks through the city gates, he stops just outside and looks back to see the crowd who have gathered to see him leave. His eyes fall upon Sakura who looks at him in disgust. The gate then closes concealing Naruto from view.

* * *

Sakura falls to the ground a trail of blood running from her mouth. Standing over her is Tsunade her clenched fist trembling.

_You must be very proud of yourself. Go to your precious Ushiha traitor, the one Naruto worked so hard to bring back for you. Go to him and get out of my sight, you disgust me._

Tsunade spits on her and walks away, the crowd then disperses. Sakura is left alone, she looks at the ground, a tear rolls down her cheek

_Naruto_

* * *

15 Years Later

A shot of Konoha, the sun rising over the Hokage monument. Cut to different scenes showing several characters

Seated at the breakfast table of the Hyuuga branch house are Neji, dressed in an ANBU uniform minus the mask, Tenten, dressed in a simple pale blue kimono that reveals a slight bulge in her waist, and a small girl who looks no older then 5 with dark brown hair done up in panda ears and also has Byakugan eyes.

* * *

Sitting on the doorstep of a large house is Kiba, dressed only in his ANBU pants, surrounded by a group of dogs, Akamaru included. Hinata emerges from the door behind him dressed only in an oversized shirt. She kneels down, wraps her arms around him and kisses him on the cheek.

* * *

Ino is seated behind the counter of her flower shop. She is talking to Shikamaru, also dressed in ANBU gear, is drinking tea trying to tune her out.

* * *

Shino, wearing in his trademark black hoody and dark glasses, and Choji, wearing his clan's armor, seated at Ichiraku Ramen stand.

* * *

Lee is at the training grounds, giving his students Gai's 'Fires of Youth' speech.

* * *

Tsunade is sitting at a bar. The door then opens and a person walks up to her, looking round see's Jiraiya standing there. Smiling she gets up and punches him with enough force to send him flying back out the door. Outside we see Jiraiya lying on the ground, the camera then pans upwards to the sign that says 'The Happy Fox'.

* * *

Kakashi is seated behind a desk in an office wearing Hokage robes, surrounded by paper work. He glances about the room with his Sharingan eye to make sure no one is around and from under a pile of papers pulls out his infamous copy of Icha Icha Paradice and begins reading.

* * *

Sakura emerges the hospital, having just gotten off shift. She then looks up at the Hokage monument

* * *

Cut to the monument. A figure wearing black stands on Yondaime's head. Moving in closer revealing it to be Cloud Strife wearing the same outfit he wears in Advent Children.

Looking out he see's black clouds gathering on the horizon.

* * *

The music changes to One Winged Angel

Cloud races towards a large group of Sound Nin on Fenrir. The compartments on Fenrir open and Cloud Pulls out First Tsurugi. A group of Sound Nins throw kunai and shurikens at Cloud who uses his sword to block them.

Sakura and the remaining members of the Konoha 11 at the gates of the city, watching the large battalion of enemy Nins they prepare to defend their home.

Cloud races through the streets of Konoha on Fenrir sword in hand, at the end of the street in front of the Hokage's tower smirking is Orochimaru.

Cloud battles Orochimaru. He kicks Orochimaru in the gut forcing him backwards several feet. Cloud prepares to strike when Sasuke appears.

Bahamut SIN stands atop the Hokage's tower and lets out an inhuman roar.

Gaara's eyes glow red sand rises from the ground and swirls around him.

Cloud disengages part of First Tsurugi and battles both Orochimaru and Sasuke.

Sakura surrounded by Sound Nins, one attempts to attack her from behind when something red races past Sakura and tackles the Nin, revealed to be Red XIII.

Kabuto is knocked to the ground, looking up reveals Tifa Lockhart standing over him.

Orochimaru, atop a giant hydra like serpent, sneering at a figure on the Hokage's tower. Moving in closer reveals the figure to be Vincent Valentine, who leaps into the air and transforms into Chaos Death Penalty appearing in his hand.

Sasuke attempts to stab Cloud through the chest with Chidori. Cloud jumps out of the way and uses his Braver Limit Break which hurls Sasuke at Orochimaru.

Vincent and Tifa kiss

Neji Kiba Shino Shikamaru and Choji stare at Cloud who has his back to them. He turns to face them revealing whisker marks on his face.

A close up of one of Sakura's eyes a tear emerges from it.

Cloud and Sasuke glare at each other. Sasuke activates his Cured Seal whilst Cloud powers up one of his Limit Breaks. They then charge one another.

Sephiroth amongst the flames of Nibelheim

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Final Fantasy VII:  
Lost Son of Konoha

Coming Soon…

An image of Cloud sword in hand, surrounded by red charkra in the shape of a fox with nine tails. His eyes glow red his ears are pointed his canines are visible as well as the whisker marks on his face. He lets out an inhuman roar and the screen goes black.

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AN Ok not an actual chapter, more of a taste of things to come, provied anyone's actually intrested in this story. For any who hs gussed it yes this is based off of the english trailer for Advent Children. Just an idea I came up after watching AC then the episode where Naruto beats Neji as well as an image of Minato Namikaze on the internet and thinking 'Wow, both Naruto and his dad kind looks like Cloud.' Anyway thought I'd write this and see what the general responce to it would be like plus this would be my first crack at Naruto fiction so please be gentle. Anyways tell me what you think you like it and you want me to continue or you hate it and think its a waste of time, let me know. Well till next time (maybe), later y'all. 


	2. Prologue

AN  
"Blah"- Normal speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
_"Blah"_- Memories dreams etc  
BLAH- Jutsu  
I own niether the Final Fantasy universe nor do I own Naruto, they are own by Square Enix and Masashi Kishimoto respectivly. If I did own them the movie of this would have been made already and would be rich.

* * *

_Naruto  
_Final Fantasy VII:  
Lost Son of Konoha

Prologue  
All was peaceful it was a warm day the sun shown down upon the earth not a cloud in the sky which was complimented a by cool breeze the birds sang their early morning chorus whilst the local wildlife went about their business. Then the sound of an engine roaring shattered the early morning tranquillity. A black motorcycle tore through the forest, on the rear end of the bike securely fastened on each of its exhausts was a largish wooden create. The rider was focused completely on the 'road' a head when soon enough he came to a gap in the forest atop of a large hill causing the rider to stop.

In the distance could be seen a settlement surrounded by a large wall with a large cliff face in the background to which if you squinted hard enough you could see six large heads carved into the rock which to his best estimate from here should be no more then under another hour's drive. Getting off the vehicle the rider decided to take a quick break.

He was 5'7 with extremely spiky blond hair. He wore a black sweater shirt which had the right arm missing whilst a shoulder pad covered his left shoulder, which had a silver foxes head attached with a ring in its mouth, it an oversized black sleeve attached to it and a black leather glove on each hand. Covering his legs were leather pants with a long half skirt attached to his belt with a pair of leather boots on his feet. Removing a pair of shades revealed he had cerulean blue eyes that had a slight greenish tint to them.

The man let out a yawn and stretched his weary muscles, he'd been driving since arriving in Wave Country via Airship and had been driving all night. Sighing he sat down on the ground and from a pouch on his belt took out some rather meagre rations he'd picked up on the flight over which consisted of 2 rice balls and a bottle of water.

Taking a bite out of one of the rice balls the blonde reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper which was revealed to be a photo of himself, a rather busty woman with dark brown hair wearing a black top and skirt standing next to a man with long ebony hair and red eyes wearing a black body suit and a red cloak and head band as well as a frightening golden claw where his left forearm should be and sitting in front of them was a red lion like creature. A large black man with clack hair wearing a puff jacket vest and a fishnet shirt along holding the hand of a young girl wearing a white shirt and pink skirt and a pink ribbon in her hair who was cuddling a black and white cat thing with a crown on its head. Standing them was a young boy with messy hair wearing kaki jeans and a blue shirt. A young woman with short black hair standing in front of an elder looking blond man with spiky hair and a pair of goggles on his forehead.

This picture had been taken shortly after the battle to stop Kadaj's gang and finding the cure for Geostigma.

He hadn't really seen the whole gang, Cid had gone back to Rocket Town to live with his wife Shera and their new baby son Kain. Yuffie was working with Reeve and Cat Sith as part of the WRO. Barret was still out drilling for oil. And last he heard Red XIII had settled down with a family in Cosmo Canyon.

The last time they'd all gotten together was for Vincent and Tifa's wedding which had been held in Lucrecia's shrine, the two of them had now moved into the old Shin-Ra mansion in Nibelheim along with Barrets adopted daughter Marleen and former Deepground agent Shelke whilst Denzel was now attending collage in Kalm.

"Well, well, well what do we have here " Looking round he saw four men with their heads bandaged jumped down from the trees two of them had fists full of kunai one was armed with a staff with a blade attached to the top whilst the fourth had a katana

"What is that thing he's leaning against?" one of the kunai guys asked his voice no louder then a whisper

"Dunno, never seen anything like it." the other replied

"Who cares, we can find out once we've killed him and dumped his corpse." The spear guy hissed

"Now good sir thing is area belongs to me and you're trespassing. Now you look like the kind of guy who doesn't want any trouble so why don't you hand over…whatever that thing is, all your money and anything else you have of value. Or alternatively we take them from your cold dead hands."

The rider said nothing he got up and pressed something on one of the handle bars, then too the bandit's amazement the sides of the front end of the machine opened up revealing an array of large bladed weapons, and from it drew a sword with a large zanbatō blade as well as a red handle.

"So I see you want to do this the hard way, that fine. Boys relieve this guy of his life." The first two then threw their kunai at the blond man who used his sword to block each one. The man with the spear took the opportunity to slash at the man who dodged out of the way only to notice the swordsman rushing towards him and tried to slash at him.

The two parried strikes however it was clear that the blond was the more expert swordsman, the spear wielder then also attacked in an attempt to double team the blond swordsman who parried and dodged both men's attacks when a kunai hit the ground just near his foot, the other two obviously not wasting any time and threw more kunai at him, once more the man blocked them with his sword but he then surprised them when we snatched one of the kunai out of the air and threw it back hitting one of the throwers in the throat "No, you'll pay for that." the remaining thrower spat before charging at him kunai in each hand using them to slash at the blond effectively having all three remaining bandits triple teaming him

_'Shit.'_ The man thought stepping backwards to avoid another attack by the swordsman, thinking quickly the blond swordsman leapt into the air and into the tree line of the forest

"Nice try but you don't get off that easy…" the remaining thrower threw both kunai at him then preformed a series of hand seals "KUNAI BUSHIN NO JUTSU." The two kunai instantly became two dozen, too many to block the blond swordsman tried to leap on to a higher branch out of the way however not completely unscathed as one kunai hit him in his calf.

Reaching a branch near the top of the tree the blond swordsman grunted in pain as he pulled the kunai out of his thigh already feeling the wound knitting itself back together (he'd always been able to heal quickly from injury although he didn't know why), however he wasn't given time to deal with the pain when the swordsman and spear wielder appeared either side of him a grin on their faces they then attacked but still he was able to counter each of their moves.

Then to their surprise he stepped off the branch twisted in midair and sliced through the branch the spear wielder yelled as he fell to his death. The blond however kicked off the trunk of the tree landing gracefully on a branch of the next one hearing something break he looked up and saw the swordsman coming towards him sword raised, raising his own blade he deflected the blow his opponent swung at him forcing him to land on the tree opposite him there was a rustle of leaves and the remaining kunai user appeared on the branch above the swords man a fist full of kunai in each hand a smirk on his face.

Then suddenly a shuriken appeared 3 centimetres from the blonds foot, a dozen of the small metal objects wiped out of the tree line the three men to blocked them with their various blades as best they could, there was then a rustle of leaves and four people appeared on the branches above the swordsman and kunai thrower.

The first was a woman who had black hair milky eyes and pale skin. She was dressed in a pair of tight black shorts that came past her knee and a tight black shirt its sleeves ending half way along her forearm with an olive green vest that had several pouches on it thrown over the top, on her feet was a pair of black open toed sandals a black headband hanging from her neck with a metal plate attached sporting a symbol that looked similar to a leaf. With her were three children who looked no older then 12.

One was a girl with long brown hair tied up in a pony tail wearing a red crop top with a fish net shirt thrown over the top and a brown skirt that came down just above her knee.

The second was a boy with red hair that came down to his shoulders with a small scar running across his right cheek, he wore black sweat pants with a white stripe running up the side as well as a short sleeved fishnet shirt and vest similar to woman, also he hand bandages on his hands and forearms.

Finally another girl with also with shoulder length black hair that looked like the rear end of a chocobo, she wore a black short sleeve shirt and shorts which hugged her body. All the of them of them wore the same headband

"Shit, Konoha nin." The kunai user hissed "Come on lets get out of here." The swordsman said they then disappeared into thin air.

The blond let out a sigh and placed his sword in the sheath on his back, he then got a surprise when the raven haired girl appeared before him and punched him in the gut sending him crashing to the ground, he only had seconds to react when the girl dropped out of the tree her foot slamming into the ground where his head had been seconds before

"Suki-chan, stand down." The elder woman's above ordered

"No, he's one of them he needs to die." The girl snapped and unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks at the blond swordsman who blocked each one of her attacks "Come on, fight back you coward." She snarled for an instant the girl was replaced by a boy of the same age with a similar hair style wearing an oversized blue shirt, the blond shock his head

"I don't want to fight you." He replied

"Coward." The girl roared she was about lunge at him again when the red haired boy appeared behind her wrapped his arm around her chest and drove the pointer and middle fingers of his other hand into the side of her neck, the girl's eyes widened then slumped forward

"I apologize for her, she's a man hating bitch." The boy stated as the other girl and woman dropped from the tree

"Ichigo-baka, you better not have harmed Suki-chan." The brown haired girl cried out as she snatched the seemingly paralized girl from Ichigo's arms he then rolled his eyes and muttered something about lesbian fangirl's. The elder woman sighed then walked up to the blond swordsman

"I apologize for my student's behaviour." She said bowing her head slightly, "These are my students. Ti-lee Ishida," She pointed at the brown haired girl who was fusing over the raven haired girl "Ichigo Yuki," Indicating to the red haired boy "And the girl who attacked you is Suki Zinanae. I am their instructor Hinata Hyuuga."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Cloud, Cloud Strife." Cloud said introducing himself for some reason being around this woman was giving him a strange feeling of déjà vu _'Have I met this woman before, I don't think so.'_ "Um, interesting kids you've got there."

Hinata looked over at her students and sighed "Sometimes I don't know why I agreed to be a Genin instructor. I mean they can work together and there are times when they can get along but most of the time they mostly bicker and argue. Well Ichigo and Suki bicker and ague Ti-lee tends to agree with everything that Suki says." (AN: This sound familiar to anyone?)

The two of them observed Ti-lee who had Suki's head in her lap stroking her hair whilst simultaneity berating Ichigo who was leaning against a tree "Although somehow I wouldn't have them any other way." She then walked up to her students "Alright enough goofing off. Ichigo undo you Paralysis Jutsu on Suki."

The boy muttered something before once more driving his fingers into Suki's neck "Oh Suki-chan I'm so glad you're alright after what that meanie Ichigo-baka …" Ti-lee began gushing but was cut off when Suki shoved her out of the way

"You'll pay for that stunt Yuki." She stated "I love you too." Ichigo replied

"Alright lets move out, we have to report to the Hokage of our mission to Waterfall Country." Hinata said "Hai Hinata-sensei." The three children replied, the four of them then leapt into the tree line and disappeared leaving Cloud on his own. Shrugging his shoulders the once self-proclaimed ex-SOLDIER turned delivery boy headed back to the clearing where he left his bike.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi groaned as he saw the tower of paper work that sat on his desk as he entered his office _'Damn you __Tsunade, now I know why you wanted out of this job.__'_ In his mind he could picture a chibi Tsunade laughing like a maniac a sake bottle in each hand as well as a chibi version of himself behind his desk surrounded by mountains of paper work with water streaming down his face and 'sucker' written above his head in big letters.

Suppressing the urge to break down and cry he sat down behind his desk and got to work on the amount of forms that needed to be signed (fortunately for him since he became Hokage most Kages had discovered the miracle that was rubber stamps.) He'd been Hokage for 5 years now and he could still remember the day when the Slug Princess Sennin had asked him to take over.

_"You're late."_ She growled as he entered her office _"Sorry, I'd give you some excuse but I can't think of one right now."_ He replied offhandedly.

Tsunade looked as if she was about to give him one of her famous super powered punches but she restrained herself _"Kakashi, there is something I need to ask of you."_ She said _"As you're probably aware of those old bastards on the council are asking for my resignation, they say my work at the hospital takes up to much of my time when it should be focused on the well being of our village but somehow I doubt that's their true reason."_

Kakashi nodded he'd heard rumors but never paid too much attention to them, he then watched as Tsunade opened one of her draws and pulled out a small box and from it took out a very familiar looking necklace the same one she'd given to Naruto years ago

_"There was only every one person I wanted to take over from me, I swore I'd be there to see him dressed in the traditional robes and see his face up there with his fathers..."_ she let out a small sob she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up she saw Kakashi standing there _"I know, I miss him too. Things certainly haven't been the same since he left."_

To this day Kakashi couldn't help but feel guilty whenever he thought about Naruto, all those hours he'd focused on Sasuke even going as far as teaching him Chidori, his killing technique, in an attempt to keep the Uchiha boy from going off with Orochimaru. As we all know it turned out to a complete waste as Sasuke had gone off with the snake bastard anyway, even after he was brought back 15 days after Naruto was exiled Sasuke deserted them again.

And then there was something to him that was ranked up there as one of his greatest shames: learning Sasuke had used Chidori to try and kill Narurto, his best friend his brother in many ways. Maybe if he put as much effort into training Naruto as he had Sasuke maybe the battle between the two of them at the Valley of the End may have had a different outcome.

_"Kakashi my resignation as Hokage is inevitable but I will not simply hand the position over to some lackey Danzo has lined up to take my place. Kakashi I'm asking you to take over from me as the sixth Hokage."_

Kakashi's eye('s) widened in surprise _"Hokage-sama…are you sure about this, surly there must be someone better suited for the position then I am."_

_"Maybe but I need someone I can trust." _

_"What about Naruto, order me to and I will head out into the wilderness myself and bring him back."_

A sad smile crossed Tsuade's lips _"As much as I'd love to see the look on those old bastards faces knowing that an exiled nin was to be their new leader there isn't time to go looking for him. Danzo 'ever so politely' informed me yesterday that if I can't find a replacement within the next three days his little stooge will be instated as the new Hokage."_

Kakashi sighed it seemed if Danzo couldn't be Hokage himself he make sure they was at least a have one of his puppets which he could use to do his dirty work. _"I…I accept. I will accept the position of Hokage."_ He said his heart felt heavy _'Naruto…Orbito__…Rin, maybe by accepting I can make up for my past mistakes.'_

A knock at the door brought Kakashi back to the present and saw his assistant enter the room, Kurenai Yuhi. And he could tell even after all this time the Genjutsu mistress was still pissed at him for tricking her into the position.

That's not to say they weren't on friendly terms the two of them had grown pretty close over the years. After Asuma's death he'd been there and comforted her and helped out when she was pregnant with Asuma's child.

He couldn't replace Asuma, he knew that, neither as her sons father nor as a man that Kurenai's needed in here life but by making her his assistant he could at least in sure her son didn't lose another parent. "Kakashi, are you alright?" she asked "Today is…"

"Not really. Even after all this day never gets any easier to deal with." He replied the two of them then walked over to the large window and looked out at the village, she then felt him place a hand on her shoulder "Today marks 15 years since he was exiled."

* * *

AN Ok since quite a few people expressed an interest in this I wrote this. So what did you like it or didn't you like it review and let me know. Anyway you're probably wondering what's up with Cloud well anyone who's played FFVII or knows enough about the character will probably know for those of you who don't you'll have to keep reading.

Plus what did you think of Hinata's Genin team, I know most teams are usually 2 boys and 1 girl but I thought I'd try something different. And what's this could there something going on between Kakashi and Kurenai? I know you were probably expecting a lot more from this such as Cloud actually arriving in Konoha and his reaction to being there but I wanted to get the circumstances of how Kakashi became Hokage and what the members of AVALANCH have been up to since Dirge of Cerberus out of the way.

Anyways I promise there will be more next time, Cloud will arrive in Konoha and we'll meet more of the original Naruto gang and see what their up to. Till next time, peace out yo.


	3. Chapter 1

AN  
"Blah"- Normal speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
_"Blah"_- Memories Dreams  
Disclimer: Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto Shonen Jump and Viz Media. The Final Fantasy universe is owned by Squeare Enix.

* * *

_Naruto  
_Final Fantasy VII:  
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 1

Cloud road through the forest heading towards Konoha. Normally he didn't come out this far, the Elemental Countries were located far to the west of the four main continents that made up the area know as the Eastern Continent almost the other side of the world.

It was rumoured that the ninja that populated Wutai had originated from the Elemental Countries who'd left to escape a war that was going on. However business had been painfully slow recently and this was the first job he'd gotten in weeks plus it was paying pretty well so he'd took it. Although aware of each other in the past the two countries seemed to pretend the other didn't exist.

The Ninja nations didn't like Shin-Ra and Shin-Ra knew from the satellites they sent into space that one or more ninja village were at war most of the time so it was judged as a no go area plus even to reach the Elemental Countries it would take months by boat although in the last few years a growing interest in the ninja nations had come about which his friend Cid had instantly capitalized on by opening up an Airship service in Rocket Town which would take passengers and cargo on a week long trip that arrived in Wave Country.

Soon he found himself before the gates that led to the city, there was a rush of leaves and a man dressed in skin tight black pants and white chest armor as well as a sword on his back, he also wore a mask that looked like some sort of bird of prey even behind the mask Cloud could feel the mans eyes staring at him. Cloud reached into one of the pouches on his belt and brought out some papers and handed them to the ANBU who looked at them and nodded before returning them, he preformed some hand seals and the gates opened allowing Cloud to enter.

Riding through the streets Cloud felt the same feeling of déjà vu again, shaking it off he pulled up outside a place called the Ichiraku Raman stand and pulled out the same papers double checking who the delivery was for and where he had to deliver it to ignoring the looks the few people out on the street were giving him _'Mrs Hyuuga, Tenten, The Hyuuga compound Branch House, Konoha. Hmmm.'_

Getting off the bike he walked over to the stand ducking under the curtains and found an elderly man behind the counter as well as a younger woman with long brown hair in the back the smell of something boiling catching his attention, the feeling of déjà vu intensified, a flash appeared before his eyes and looking down the bar he saw a blond kid with three lines on his cheeks wearing an orange jump suit sitting next to a pile of empty bowls practically inhaling Raman.

"My god." A voice snapped Cloud back to reality and found the old man standing in front of him and the young woman staring at him "Your face…could you really be?"

"Excuse me?" Cloud said

"Ah, it nothing. Good morning sir. I'm afraid were not were not officially open yet but if you don't mind taking a seat I'm sure my daughter world't mind preparing you something, maybe some tea."

Although he'd eaten already the smell was making Cloud hungry again "Um, I'm afraid I'm not a customer. I'm here to deliver something and I'm looking for the Hyuuga compound." Cloud said

"Oh I see." The old man said sounding disappointed

"Well maybe I could stop here on the way back." Cloud offered which seemed to cheer the old man up, he then gave Cloud the directions he needed

"Thank you." Cloud said

"No problem, by the way I don't believe I've seen you around here before, actually seeing anyone beside members of the Yamanaka clan and lady Tsunade with blond hair around here is something of a rarity."

"I'm from out of town."

"Oh really, where if you don't mind me asking?" the girl asked

"Edge, it's near to where Midgar used to be."

"Wow, that's really amazing." The girl said

"Well stranger welcome to Konoha. I'm Teuchi the owner of this establishment and this is Ayame-chan my daughter." Teuchi said introducing himself

"My names Cloud." Cloud replied he then repeated his thanks and left the stand

"Father, did something seem odd about that man?" Ayame asked

"What do you mean?" Teuchi replied

"I don't know, there was something about him. Something…familiar." Ayame said as she heard the sound of Cloud's bike roar into life "He looked so much like him

* * *

Sakura Haruno let out a sigh as she stepped out of the hospital having finally gotten off shift and she felt exhausted. Covering her eyes with her hand she blocked out the sun for a moment allowing her eyes to become accustomed to the light before heading off down the street. As she walked down the street that led to her apartment she looked at all the people she passed, it was a sight she was quite familiar with and from the longest time thought nothing of but now she counted herself fortunate for it and remembered how easily be taken away.

Four years ago a mysterious sickness engulfed Konoha, nearly crippling it as it had been contracted by almost a large majority of its ninja of each level not to mention the civilian population. The hospital had been so overrun with people who'd contracted it that they converted the Ninja Academy to make room for the extra patience. She and the other Mednins who worked at the hospital worked almost round the clock to help but no medical jutsu or technique they tried seem to work.

Everyone she knew had been effected by this whether they be amongst the number who had contracted the sickness or had someone close to them who had been, many of her friends were amongst them including Neji Kiba Shino Shikamaru Ino Gai and Anko, she could still remembered how distraught Tsunade had been when Jiraiya had arrived at the hospital shortly before contracting it herself.

Although venerable to attack the sickness had not been just limited to Konoha, it had struck many of the shinobi nations, in Suna many were suffering including Temari and Gaara and according to Jiraiya's spy network even Orochimaru was not immune to it.

No one could tell what caused it but its effects were all to plain to see, scars appeared on the victims bodies that secreted a sickly black puss and as well as being in constant pain caused many to experience delusions, claiming that they could see the faces of departed loved ones recalling Neji near miss when he almost fell down a flight of stairs whilst claiming he could see his father.

Everything had seemed hopeless, she spent her days looking in on patience administering what she could to relieve their pain before heading back to the lab in hopes of finding a cure, she'd been outside the hospital at the time revisiting the old Team 7 training ground as if it somehow held the answers she seeked. A wave of pain rushed over her causing her to fall to her knees images of a figure standing amongst fire and people dieing flashing before her eyes an ominous black liquid oozing down her left arm.

Then just when all hope seemed lost a miracle happened, she heard a voice say _"I pity you, you just don't it at all…There's nothing that I don't cherish." _

Later she felt a pulse of chakra…a familiar chakra.

_"Stay where you belong, in my memories." _

_"I will…never be a memory."_

Seconds and then moments later it came…rain, a healing rain that had appeared and somehow cured the sickness the doctors carried and escorted patience out of the hospital whilst others collected the water to give to those who couldn't but the most puzzling thing was when they ran tests on it it turned out to be nothing but ordinary rain water.

Shaking her head Sakura found herself outside her apartment building, a feeling of exhaustion passed over and dragged her feet all the way to her apartment the sound of her bed singing to her.

* * *

Kakashi sat there focusing his chakra building up the precise amount necessary for his task, he then quickly performed the hand seals _'Tiger Snake Ram Rat Bird...'_ And unleashed it, opening his eyes he found he'd failed…his 'Paper Work do its self jutsu' didn't work.

Tears rolled down his cheeks when his secretary's voice sounded over the intercom –Hokage-sama, team 9 is here to see you.- Kakashi quickly composed himself "Erm…send them in." the door of his office opened and in walked Hinata and her Genin team. "Ah so your back." Kakashi said trying to look busy grabbing some papers needed to be signed "Hai Hokage-sama." Hinata said "Our mission in Waterfall Country was a success."

Recently Waterfall country had experienced several bad storms devastating many areas of the country including their main ninja village Takigakure no Sato. Konoha had supplied aid including food clothing and medicines, Hinata and her team had been sent to see that the various aid materials were being distributed equally as well as help out where they could.

Just then the intercom went off again –Hokage-sama, a member of ANBU is here to see you. It's about out resident troublemaker. Again.-

Kakashi sighed _'What's he done now?'_ "Alright send them in."

The door opened again and a member of the ANBU entered the room accompanied by a 12 year old boy, he was wearing a pair of baggy black pants, that had many pockets, and t-shirt that had the sleeves ripped off sporting the Konoha leaf and also had spiky black hair. Suki's twin brother Ski. (AN: Ok, just one quick thing, although its spelled Ski his name is pronounced Sky)

"Hi Ji-san." The boy said putting his hands behind his head a grin spreading across his face

Kakashi groaned "How many times have I told you not call me that?"

"About 1,720 times so far but who's counting." Ski replied his eyes fell upon his sister who looked at him disapprovingly "Hey sis." He said as he messed up her hair, Suki knocked his hand away and tried to fix her hair a scowl decorating her face.

Shaking his head Ski's eyes fell upon Ichigo, his best friend "Hey man."

Ichigo groaned "What's the idiot done now?"

"That's what I want to know." Kakashi said

"I suggest you look out the window sir, at the monument." The ANBU said.

Confused Kakashi walked over to the window and almost fell over is shock. The monument carved into the cliff behind the tower that depicted Konoha's Hokages, their faces now decorated with various designs and patterns

"You graffiti the monument." Kakashi yelled "You gave me a moustache and a monocle."

"I thought it suited you." Ski replied cheerfully "Good init."

* * *

Cloud found himself outside a large wooden gate with two men who were staring wide eyed at him, as with the front gate Cloud pulled out his papers and once the guards seemed satisfied he drove off towards a largeish building, getting off the bike Cloud knocked on the door which was opened by a woman with short brown hair tied in panda ears and wearing a simple kimono the bulge in her waist quiet visible.

"Hello." She said Again Cloud felt that strange feeling of déjà vu which was followed by another flash replacing the woman with a girl in her early teens who looked similar wearing a pink silk shirt,

Cloud blinked a few times riding himself of the image "Um Strife delivery serves ma'am, I'm looking for a Misses Tenten Hyuuga. I have a delivery for her"

"That's me." The woman replied

Cloud then fished out some papers and a pen and hand them to her "If you sign these I'll unload your goods."

He then walked back over to his bike and began untying the creates that was attached to the vehicle, as he was doing so he could feel the presence of someone behind him and looking round saw a girl who her guessed was around five who had hair similar to Tenten so he guessed this was her daughter, however her eyes were milky

_'Kinda like that Hinata woman I met earlier.'_ A man, who Cloud guessed was probably a servant, then appeared to deal with the other create

"You look weird mister, your hair is funny." The child said

"Yui-chan don't be rude, now apologize." Tenten said

"Awwe do I have to Kaa-san?" the child pouted

"Yes." Her mother replied

"…sorry mister." Yui said staring at the ground she then felt something under her chin lifting it up until her gaze fell upon Cloud who smiled at her then ruffled her hair

"That's Alright."

Yui giggled and followed Cloud her mother and the servant inside

"Cute kid." He said

"Thank you." Tenten replied she then led Cloud into a simple room with a table in the centre with tea things set upon it, she then told Cloud and the servant to set the creates down . She then dismissed the man

"Thank you." She said to Cloud seeing the tired look on his face "Are you alright, you arrived a lot earlier then I expected."

"I was driving all night to get here." Cloud replied rubbing his tired eyelid his hand

"I was just about to have some when you arrived, would you like to join me. My husband is away at the moment but is expected back later today, once he returns we can discuss your payment." Tenten said

"I don't want to inconvince you." Cloud replied

"Nonsense it's the least I can do, after all you've come such a long way. And afterwards your welcome to rest here, we have a guest room where you can rest and then you can leave tomorrow." Tenten said

"You don't…" Cloud began

"I insist." Tenten said firmly.

Seeing as it was pointless arguing Cloud drew his sword and placed it on the floor before seating himself at the table Tenten pouring him some tea all the while eyeing his sword

"That's an interesting weapon, I've never seen a sword like that before."

Cloud glanced at his sword a memory of when Zack gave him his Buster Sword as a symbol of passing on his hopes and dreams to him flashed through his mind

"It's based on the ones used by first class members of SOLDIER." He said before taking a sip of his tea

"Kaa-san, kaa-san." Yui's voice cried out

"What is it sweetie?" Tenten asked

"You said my present was going to be part of the delivery."

Smiling Tenten picked Clouds sword off the ground and to his surprise used it as a crowbar to open the crate, she then rummaged around and brought out a white plushie that had slits for eyes, purple bat-like wings on its back and an antenna sticking out of its head, with a red ball attached as well as cat like ears. The little girl stared at it before grabbing it and squeezed it tight

"Arigato kaa-san. What is it?"

"It's a Moogle." Cloud said "Their supposedly these little fairy creatures, there's this story that says if you catch one it will give you a wish and it will grant you what ever your heart desires."

"Wow, is that really true mister?" Yui aske excitedly

"I don't know, I've never seen one." Cloud replied

"Well I will, watch me Kaa-san I'm gonna find a real Moogle." The young child then dashed out of the room her new toy in hand.

"That's some kid you've got there." Cloud said

"She's a real bundle of energy, I don't know where she get it from." Tenten chuckled.

The two of them then settled down and enjoyed their tea, soon Tenten led Cloud to where the guest room.

"Again, arigato for coming all this way." Tenten said bowing slightly

"No problem." Cloud replied

Tenten then left the room leaving Cloud alone his exhaustion catching up with him, after kicking off his boots and gloves and putting his sword to one side as well as drawing the blinds Cloud crawled under the blankets of the futon he now lay on and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It was early evening, the sun was just starting to sink behind the Hokage monument, when a man dressed in ANBU gear wearing an owl mask appeared before the entrance to the Hyuuga compound, his left arm in a sling. Walking past the guards he walked towards the branch house, the front door opened Tenten appearing in the doorway

"Koibito, Neji-kun." She cried as she ran towards the man who removed his mask revealing the pale skinned face of a man with milky coloured eyes, his Konoha headband still used to hide his families cursed seal that marked him as part of the branch house, his loving wife threw her arms around his neck

"Ten-chan." He said returning her embrace with his good arm kissing her lovingly on her cheek

"Otou-san." A voice was heard before something attached itself to Neji's leg, looking down the ANBU captain saw his five year old daughter staring up at him

"Its good to see you Hime." He told her kneeling down embracing his daughter kissing her on the forehead, which unlike his bore no mark and never would as long as he had anything to say about.

The family then headed inside Neji taking note of the black contraption in front of the house and into their comfortable living room,

"What happened to your arm?" Tenten asked as the three of them sat down on their couch

"I can't tell you, the details of my mission are classified." Neji replied

"I'm not asking for details, I just want to know what happened to you." His wife demanded

Neji sighed "Alright. My team and I were sent to deal with a group of S-class criminals in Grass Country. I underestimated my opponent and this was the price."

Neji became silent which then developed the room which was then shattered when Tenten slapped him on the back of the head "Baka."

She then gave him a lecture about how stupid he'd been whilst Yui sat there giggling.

Neji Hyuuga. Strongest member of the Hyuuga clan in a century. ANBU squad captain. One of Konoha's best Ninja. And totally henpecked.

The again he's seen what she could do with a kunai and since she was the one who allowed him to have sex with her, he knew not to piss her off.

"Anyway, the other will be arriving in a few hours." Tenten said once she was done lecturing him "Go get showered and changed."

Neji obeyed and left the room with Tenten following him into the bathroom

"Ten-chan could you help me? This arm makes doing getting undressed difficult." He asked Tenten then saw a glint in his eyes a sly grin appeared on her lips and playfully slapped his head

"Hentai." She then leaned in and the two kissed passionately, she then helped him undress removing her own clothes before stepping into the shower together continuing their make out session whilst the warm water

"Y'know I…heard something…very interesting…whilst at…the ramen stand…apparently the…whole village…is talking about it." Neji said between kisses "They say…the ghost…of the…fourth Hokage…has appeared…in town."

"You don't say." Tenten said in a breathless whisper then let out a moan as Neji began kissing her neck whilst one of his hands headed south down her body.

* * *

Later that evening Sakura made her way to the Hyuuga compound where the Konoha 10 were gathering for their yearly a reunion dinner along with former sensei's. She felt as though her stomach was doing back flips, this day also marked the 15th anniversary of Naruto's banishment form the village. She couldn't help but the remembered all the mean things she ever did to him, sure he could be annoying but he had also been the best friend she'd ever had.

It was just she had been so wrapped up in her stupid crush on Sasuke to realize it. He'd even promised to bring the Uchiha back to her when he first betrayed the village and how did she repay him when she went to see him in the hospital, she accused him of betraying his promise due to the condition he'd brought Sasuke back in.

She'd actually been glad when she learned of Naruto's exile and was amongst the crowd who'd gathered to see him leave as part of the celebration of the demon's departure. Afterwards she's gone to the hospital to see Sasuke, who'd been unconscious since Naruto brought him back,

_"Guess what Sasuke-kun. They exiled Naruto from the village."_ She said as watched him lying there

_"Stupid teme deserves it for doing this to you. He promised to bring you back to me and what does he do, he brings you back half dead. He probably thought if you died he'd be my shoulder to cry on then get me to go out with him, well now he's gone and I will only ever love you Sasuke-kun. I hope he rots out there, which is what he deserves for harming you Sasuke-kun."_

She'd been so busy gushing she hadn't noticed her mentor Tsunade standing behind her until it was too late, turning around she saw the lady Hokage's fist coming towards her which sent her crashing into the wall

_"How dare you."_ Tsunade growled _"How dare you say those things you worthless little shit."_

_"H…Hokage-sama…"_ Sakura gasped a trail of blood running from her mouth Tsunade stood there glaring at her, her clenched fist trembling.

"_You're a sheep Sakura, standing there saying those things going along with the rest of those idiot villagers, believing getting rid of Naruto is something to celebrate."_

_"But Sasuke-kun…" _

_"Do you even know why Naruto was in hospital after he got back? It was for a wound to his chest. Exactly where his heart was. Judging by the burn marks, a wound that could have only been caused by Chidori. I Should know, because I treated him myself."_

Sakura stared at her eyes wide in shock

_"That's right. Your precious Uchiha tried to murder his best friend." _

_'It can't be true. Can it?'_ she thought desperetly _'There has to be some mistake. Sasuke-kun would never...'_

_"__You must be very proud of yourself. There is your precious Ushiha traitor, the one Naruto worked so hard to bring back for you, whom your precious 'Sasuke-kun' tried to murder. I'll leave the two of you alone because frankly the sight of you disgusts me"._

Tsunade then spat on her and walked out of the room, leaving Sakura alone with Sasuke's body. Sakura turned her gaze to the ground unable to look at the boy she had been praising moments ago, a tear rolls down her cheek _'__Naruto…what have I done?' _

Things were rough for her after that, Tsunade dropped her as her apprentice and she'd had to fight tooth and nail to earn that position back. She then entered the main room of the Hyuuga branch house, inside were all the members of the Konoha 10, minus Shikamaru who was currently in Suna, as well as Gai Anko Iruka Tsunade and Shizune, the only ones currently absent were Kakashi Kurenai and Jiraiya.

Slowly she walked over to greet the others, she felt as though her stomach was doing back flips, although over time her friends came to forgave her for the way she treated Naruto there was one person who never had and never will: herself.

Over in the corner she saw Hinata and Kiba.

She remembered how devastated the Hyuuga heiress had been after Naruto left it was almost as if she'd given up on life. It took them a long time but she managed to claw her way out of her pit of despair, with the help of her team-mates sensei and other friends. Kiba in particular. They'd only been together two years but from the way they acted you'd think it was longer.

"Look at those two. They can't keep out of each others pants longer then five minutes." She heard Ino say "Hey knock it off you two, at least wait till after dinner."

A few minutes later Kurenai arrived along with a sulky looking Kakashi

"Wow Hokage-sama, you aren't 3 hours late for a change." She heard someone say

"That's because I took away his copy of Icha Icha Paradise and threatened to burn if we were late." Kuenai replied.

The party made idle chit chat for another ten minutes before they began making their way to the dining room when there was a gust of wind and in a swirl of leaves a large man with white hair appeared a large grin on his face

"Fear not and rejoice, for I have arrived. Ninja. Scholar. Sennin. Lover. Again rejoice friends, for I Jiraiya, have arrived."

Everyone stared at the man for a few seconds and blinked a few times before once again walking off towards the dining room leaving Jiraiya standing there, a tumbleweed rolling past him for comic effect.

* * *

Cloud's eyes burst open, sitting up sweat pouring from his brow and panting heavily

"That boy, he was just like him… Sephiroth."

_"Stay where you belong, in my memories." _

_"I will…never be a memory."_

Even now the memory of the One Winged Angel haunted him and in a way he will never die. A millennium could pass and he was sure in some form Sephiroth would still be alive binging fear to the people of the planet.

Looking out the window he saw that it was dark outside. His stomach then growled so he Rose from the bed he walked to door in search of some food. Walking along the corridors the smell of food caught his attention, thinking he must be near the kitchens he headed in its direction.

* * *

The party were seated around the dinner table, the topic of conversation was the supposed sightings of the Fourths ghost, when door opened at the back of the room opened everyone turning their focus to the door at the sound of it.

No one moved.

No one said anything.

Standing in the doorway was a man dressed in black with blue eyes and spiky blond hair a large sword strapped to his back. Kakashi Jiraiya and Tsunade stared at the man wide eyed

_'It couldn't, could it?'_

* * *

AN Well here it is, chapter 1 in all its glory. Hope it was worth the wait. Before you ask, yes the sickness mention is Geostigma. So what you think about how the village thinks that Cloud is Minato's ghost? Well this and the next chapter should help set up the rest of the story.

As for those who are desperate Naruto/Cloud will be paired with, haven't decided yet, except that it definetly won't be NaruXHina or Yaoi.

Well I'll get started on the second chapter as soon as I can, and for those of you who are curious about Itachi and the Akatsuki, although I haven't totally figured out what role they'll have in this they will be making an appearence soon. Send your reviews and let me know wht you think, all comments are welcome just try to keep them clean. Later, peace out y'all.


	4. Chapter 2

AN  
"Blah"- Normal Speech  
'Blah'- Thoughts  
Disclimer: Naruto is the propety of Masashi Kishimoto, Final Fantasy VII is the propety of Square Enix. Being poor sucks.

* * *

_Naruto  
_Final Fantasy VII:  
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 2

Cloud stared at the people in the room as they stared back, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. The collection of people seated around the dinner table were…odd.

Near the head of the table on the left hand side was a man with silver hair and a scar on his face seated between two women, one with purple hair and dull grey eyes on his left dressed in a black kimono with red serpents decorated on it, and another with long black hair and red eyes wearing a violet kimono decorated with blue butterflies.

Next to them was guy with large spiky dark brown hair and seated next to him was the woman he'd met on the road wearing a dark blue kimono decorated with the mark of the Hyuuga clan.

And seated next to them was a guy with spiky black hair wearing a pair of shades.

At the far end of the table was two men with the exact bowl shaped haircut as well as eyebrow so freakily large bushy it looked like small animals and birds could get lost in them.

On the right at the end was a tanned man with a scar across his nose.

Next was a large man with large white hair who was sat next to younger woman with shoulder length brown hair wearing simple black kimono and an uncomfortable look on her face.

Next up was a blond woman with brown eyes and blue diamond on her forehead, dressed in an elegant white and red kimono that showed off her rather 'ample' assets (Cloud: _'That's an understatement, she could give Tifa run for her money'_).

Another blond woman was sat next to her only younger and her hair was a much richer blond, her kimono was lilac with flowers decorating it. And near the head of the table was young woman with bubblegum pink hair wearing a red kimono with white cherry blossom petals on it.

Finally at the head of the table was Tenten, wearing a midnight blue kimono, and a man he assumed was her husband.

"Sorry to interrupt, I'll go." He said and turned to leave

"Wait." He heard a voice and turned round and saw the guy from the head of the table, he was similar in ways to Hinata, such as his pale skin and eyes and had long black hair.

Neji stared at the man before him _'Why does he seem so familiar?'_

Dark lines creased an outline of his irises, and veins popped up all around his eyes as he activated his Byakugan _'Strange, somehow my Byakugan is being blocked.'_

Before Neji could go any further he was stopped when Tenten smacked him upside the head "Neji-kun, what have I told you about using Byakugan on the guest."

She then turned to Cloud "I apologize for my husband's behaviour."

Cloud looked at her with a raised eyebrow "That's alright." He replied "I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner, I'll go."

"Wait." He was about to leave when a voice stopped him Cloud then saw the silver haired man walking towards him "Tell me swordsman, what's your name?"

"Cloud." The blond man replied confused.

The silver haired man gave Cloud a once over then indicated to the table "Would you care to join us?"

"I, I don't want to impose…" Cloud was cut off when his stomach growled

"I insist." The elder man said, Tenten then led Cloud to the table where he drew his sword and place it on the ground and sat next to Sakura.

Kakashi stared at Cloud as he sat down _'He looks so much like Minato__-sensei. __What is it about him, he has this presence about him that reminds me of someone but I can't think of who.'_

Shaking his head he sat back down between Kurenai and Anko.

After a rather tense silence the group's various conversations started up again whilst Cloud sat there nursing his sake and concentrating on his meal not noticing Sakura was throwing his the odd glance.

"So you're the guy Ten-chan was talking about." Neji said after a while

"Yeah." Cloud replied

"We'll discuss your payment in the morning." Neji said before taking a bite of his meal

"That's quite an interesting sword." he said once he swallowed "As far as I knew only the Seven Swordsman of the Mist wielded weapons like that."

"I wouldn't know." Cloud replied.

The two fell into silence again, after some time Cloud raised his voice "May I ask what you're all gathered here for?"

The room went quiet

"Today marks the 15th anniversary of when someone very important left us." Kakashi said "We have gathered to remember him and honour his memory."

"He must have been pretty special to you all." Cloud said "May I ask his name?"

"Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki." Sakura said solemnly

"I'm sorry," Cloud said, images of Areith and her death at the hands of Sephiroth flashed through his mind "I know what its like to lose someone you love."

The group was silent

"The kid used to call me Baa-chan." Tsunade said before downing another sake shot "I hated it, it used to drive me nuts. Now I'd give anything to hear him call me that again."

"I know what you mean." Jiraya said "He used to drive me nuts calling me Ero-sennin, I almost miss it now. He was in many ways like Minato, the two of them were the best students I could have asked for."

"He was my most promising rival, the very embodiment of the flames of youth." Lee half shouted

"He was my first love." Hinata said "My only regret is that he never knew how I felt about him, even if he didn't return them I would have I would have at least have settled with telling him my feelings."

Kiba wrapped his arm around her shoulder "Chouji, remember our academy days?"

"Oh yeah, you me Naruto and Shikamaru were always getting in trouble." Chouji replied "Good times, good times."

"He was the liveliest student I ever taught." Iruka said letting out a chuckle.

A small smile appeared on Neji's face and he took hold of his wife's hand "He saved from my delusions, and thus made it possible from me to see what was in front of me the whole time."

The two of them then kissed earning various responses from the others, ranging from 'ewe' to telling the pair to get a room.

"This Naruto sounds like quite a character." Cloud commented.

A commotion from outside was heard and a guard came in "I apologize for interrupting, however we caught these youths outside the compound, scaling the wall."

Two more guards entered the room escorting Ski Ichigo Suki and Ti-Lee, Ski smiled scratching the back of his head nervously "Yo, whatup."

Kakashi sighed in frustration whilst Lee rose from his seat "Ski, greetings my most youthful student."

"Hi sensei-fuzzy brows." Ski replied whilst Ichigo and Ti-Lee bowed respectively whilst Suki merely grunted rudely.

From her seat Hinata sweat dropped _'That girl maybe the best ninja on my team, but she's got no manners.'_

Meanwhile Lee was in 'Gai mode' "Come my youthful student, let us celebrate your arrival by running 200 laps around Konoha accompanied by your youthful friends and Gai-sensei."

Gai then leapt from his seat "Yosh, a most youthful suggestion my youthful student."

Crocodile tears then began rolling down both men's cheeks and a sunset appeared (Cloud who was about to take another sip of his drink stopped and peered into the contents of his sake cup) both of them made a dive for Ski.

"Hey guys, what did I tell you about personal space?" the boys pleas fell upon deaf ears as he was soon sandwiched between the two men his face slowly turning blue.

Cloud watched the goings on half expecting to wake up, he then leaned over to Tenten and asked "Is this normal?"

Tenten smiled "Scary isn't it."

In the end they had to get Sakura and Tsunade to pry the two bowl heads apart, once they'd renched the two of them apart Ino went to check on Ski who was being supported by Ichigo, "You alright?"

"…I've been violated…" Ski replied in a shaky voice.

Suki then let out an annoyed grunt. "Will you pull yourself together and do what it is you dragged us here to do."

"Yes tell us why the four of you were snooping around?" Neji asked coolly, in an instant Ski was on his feet his eyes instantly locked onto Cloud.

"Oh Kami, its true your him." he suddenly disappeared and then reappeared his face mere inches from Clouds, "I mean Ichigo told me his squad ran into you and I'd heard the rumours but I never thought you'd actually be here."

"Ski, what are you doing?" Kakashi asked.

"Don't you people know who this is?" Ski demanded.

"The delivery guy." Tenten replied which caused the youth to do an anime trip.

"He's Cloud Strife." Ski half yelled, "Y'know the guy who beat Sephiroth."

The room went completely silent as every pair of eyes in the room was locked on Cloud, if he'd felt uncomfortable when he'd entered he now felt ten times more so now.

So he was thankful when something brown and pink rushed into the room and tackled Ski to the ground before he was swamped with questions, requests for autographs and marriage proposals from the others.

"Ski nii-san." Yui cried

"Hi nee-chan." He replied as he wrapped his arms around her he then noticed the plushie she was carrying, "Who's your new friend?"

Yui beamed as she showed it to him. "Kaa-san got it for me. It's a Moogle and I'm gonna find a real one so it can grant me a wish."

"Wow, that's cool."

"Congratulations dobe, you found someone to be your intellectual equal. You're even more of a child then that brat on top of you, you're a disgrace to the memory of the Zinanae clan." Suki snorted in disgust.

Everyone was stunned into silence a wave of killer intent poured out from many of those gathered around the table even Ti-Lee was shocked at what Suki had just said.

Yui stared at the elder girl tears welling up in her eyes. "Take that back ugly lady. Otou-san, Kaa-san and Ski nii-san are the best ninja ever, you're just jealous that because none likes you, you mean cold hearted bitch?"

Suki snarled, "You little brat."

"That's enough." Neji said sternly rising from his seat "I will not tolerate you speaking to my daughter like that. I suggest that you leave."

Hinata also stood up. "I concur, I will not hear anyone say anything against any member of my family or those who are welcomed in this house. Suki I suggest you take Neji-sans advice. Only I'm making it an order."

Suki said nothing, she bowed slightly before leaving, Ti-Lee on her trail.

Ichigo watched as the two girls left he then started rubbing his temples, "That girl's attitude, it's going to be her downfall one of these days."

Ski nodded in agreement he then turned his focus to Yui and wiped her tears away Hinata walked over to the two youngster

"Don't let what she said get to you Yui-chan." She said picking her up off of Ski, "Now young lady, what's with coming in here and not giving me a hug."

Yui's face lit up like a 100 watt bulb and let out a small giggle, "Sorry Hinata Obasan." She then threw her arms around her aunt's neck.

"Yosh, this room is ablaze with youths glorious flames." Gai yelled out, ultimately killing the moment, earning him a slap upside the head from Iruka.

"You moron."

Kakashi then rose from his seat, "If you'd all excuse me, Mr Strife would you would please accompany me. There's something I'd like to speak to you about in privet."

Cloud stared at the man for a few seconds then complied following him out of the room Sakura following them as they left.

* * *

The two men soon found themselves in the drawing room

"I apologize for Ski's being boisterous and Suki's, well, being obnoxious." Kakashi said as Cloud closed the door behind him

"What's with those two?" Cloud asked

Kakashi sighed "Suki and Ski aren't originally from this village. Their family, the Zinanae clan, originally game from the Village Hidden Under the Crescent Moon in River Country. Six years ago it was attacked and destroyed by a group of Sound nins. A group of our ninja discovered the few survivors of the massacre whilst on a mission and escorted them here. Sky and Suki lost nearly their whole family, all they have left is their grandmother and a cousin."

Cloud flinched images of when Sephiroth's massacred his home of Nibelheim flashed before him, "That's terrible."

"Yes. But I didn't ask you to come with me to tell you about our village's troubled citizens." Kakashi replied, "I would like you to perform a job for us, you will be paid for your serves of course. I'll cover what the Hyuuga owe you atop of this as well."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, "What kind of job?"

"Nothing too difficult, all I require is a very important message delivered to the Kazekage of Sunagakure no sato in Kaze no Kuni. A team was to set out tomorrow to deliver it however one of them was injured during training this morning leaving me one short and I have been unable to find a replacement." Kakshi explained, "Normally I'd get a currier nin to do it, however with information this vital I can only entrust it to my ninja."

"Then why are you asking me?" Cloud asked.

"Like I said I'm a man short." Kakashi replied.

Cloud thought for a moment, business back home had been slow and he wasn't exactly in a rush to get back, "Ok, I'll do it." the blond replied

Kakashi smiled, "Be at the main gate at 8 tomorrow morning, the remaining member will help you out, we'll negotiate your fee upon your return."

* * *

Their business settled the two men returned to the dinning room. "Ino, I've found you a replacement for your partner for tomorrow's mission." Kakashi said once both he and Cloud had taken their seats at the table

"Great, who?" The blond haired Yamanaka asked

"Mr Strife has agreed to accompany you, he'll meet you at the gate tomorrow morning at eight." Kakashi said pouring himself a drink,

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Ino said glanced over at Cloud who was helping himself to more miso ramen, _'He is pretty cute so I'll have something to look at. But there's something about him…its like he reminds me of someone but I can't remember who.'_

Just then Cloud noticed her staring at him, she quickly looked away a light blush decorating her cheeks which caused a few people to snigger whist Sakura shook her head in disbelief

"Anyways Kakashi my eternal rival, now you are here I can make my announcement." Gai said in a loud voice which caused everyone (but Cloud and Lee, for completely different reasons) to groan as the spandex wearing loon got to his feet, "I have been a ninja of our great village for many years and during that time I've seen many rise through the ranks to become great shinobi themselves, the flames of youth burning with them."

"Will you get on with it." Tsunade snapped, "Your taking up valuable time I could be spent drinking. This is a party and I looking for any excuse I can where I can drink as much as I want."

Jiraya snorted. "No offence Tsunade, but when have you ever needed an excuse to drink."

Tsunade stuck her tongue out at him childishly.

Gai cleared his throat getting peoples attention once more, "Anyway I have been pondering this for sometime and it hasn't been a easy decision to make but being here amongst friends it is with great pride that I have decided I will be retiring from active serves after the Chunin exams next year."

A stunned silence broke out amongst those gathered, Lee jumped to his feet, "Please you must reconsider Gai-sensei, say it is not so."

"I'm afraid my youthful student it is true." Gai said placing his hands on Lee's shoulders, "Whilst my youthful fires burn more passionately then ever my body cannot keep up. I am not getting any younger and I believe it will be soon time to bow out with dignity. Besides I will only be retiring from active duty, if I may I would like join the staff at the Academy where I will mould the minds spirits and bodies of our future shinobi."

A shudder of fear passed through all those seated at the table at the thought of Gai teaching at the Academy.

"Yes…well, I shall certainly consider your request." Kakashi said instantly downing his drink in an attempt to calm his nerves.

"Yes well, I believe its time that Mr Yuki and Mr Zinanae were heading home and you young lady were heading off to bed." Neji said picking Yui up.

"Will you tell me a story?" the child asked pouting slightly.

"Oh alright." He said he then kissed on the forehead as he carried her out of the room.

Ichigo then rose up. "We'd better go too."

"Oh alright." Ski said he then turned to Kakashi "Just get ready to hand over your hat old man, once I become a Chunin I'm coming for you. I'm gonna be Hokage, believe it."

Kakashi shook his head as the two boys left, Ski was so much like Naruto, maybe that's why he could never really punish him when he got into trouble.

The party carried on for a few more hours before it broke up, it was understandable as many of these people had important jobs.

* * *

Cloud sat on the pourch watching as several of guests left, just then he heard someone trying to sneak up on his and looking round saw Yui standing there "I thought your father put you to bed?"

The girl smiled at him "I snuck out, I wanted to practise my ninja skills."

"Well your going to have to learn to be a lot more stealthy then that." Cloud then motioned for Yui to sit beside him on the porch

"You want to hear a story?" the blond asked to which the girl nodded

"Ok." He then pointed up to the sky "There, do you see it?"

The young girl looked up "All I see is the sky and stars." Yui replied

"Oh its there, you may not be able to see it but it its there."

"What?"

"The Lifestream. That's what we call the river of life that circles our planet, giving life to the world and everything in it. The Shin-Ra Electric Power Company discovered a way to use the Lifestream as an energy source. Because of Shin-Ra's energy, we were able to live very comfortable lives. But wasn't that because we were taking away from the planet's life? A lot of people thought so."

"Shin-Ra used their power to stop anyone who got in their way. Shin-Ra had a special group of warriors called SOLDIER. And all of the SOLDIERs had Jenova Cells put inside of them. Jenova was a calamity that fell from the sky a long, long time ago... and tried to destroy the planet. Anyway, there was one SOLDIER named Sephiroth, who was better than the rest. But when he found out about the terrible experiments that made him he began to hate Shin-Ra. And then, over time, he began to hate everything."

"Shin-Ra and the people against them. Sephiroth, who hated the Planet so much that he wanted to make it go away. And the people who tried to stop him. There were a lot of battles. For every battle, there was more sadness, someone I love went back to the Lifestream too."

Cloud paused and turned his gaze away from the young girl, the memory of what happened at the Forgotten City still. "And then, it came…the chosen day. In the end, the planet itself had to make the battles stop for good. The planet used the Lifestream as a weapon, and when it burst out of the earth ... all the fighting, all the grief and sadness ... everything was washed away."

Cloud paused again. "Sadness was the price to see it end. It's been four years since then."

He looked over and noticed that Yui had fallen asleep, as gently as he could he picked the small girl up and carried her inside the house, inside he found Tenten who took the girl from him.

Sakura walked towards her home, tonight had been…interesting. Even in the Elemental Countries they knew about Cloud and how he had fought and defeated

* * *

Sephiroth, who was regarded as one of the greatest warriors and swordsmen in the world.

He certainly wasn't how she expected him to be, instead of being loud and bragging of his achievements he was quiet and quite reserved, he had known great hardships and having heard the story he'd told Yui he had know the pain of losing someone precious. And yet at the same time there was something about him that felt familiar to him, like a friend she played with as a child now long forgotten.

Her thoughts turned to Naruto, she remembered the day several years back on what would have been his 18th birthday. Tsunade and Jiraya informed her at the other members of the Konoha 10 about truth about the night Kyuubi attacked the village and how the 4th Hokage, in exchange for his own life, sealed the monster inside a new born child, that child had been Naruto.

It was then so many things fell into place, the hateful glares the villagers gave him, the harsh words, why he wasn't allowed to enter certain shops and why he lived alone in that shabby apartment.

Hell his birthday was October 10th, the same day as the attack. The villagers needed something to focus their pain on and in turn had passed that hatred onto their children, and like a fool she had gone along with it. She recalled all the things she'd done to him, even back in their academy days when he'd said hello to her every morning she had just pushed him aside in vain hopes that by hurting Sasuke would notice her.

She wished she could take it all back, she would give anything to see him again just so she could tell him she was sorry for all the things she'd done for him.

Shaking her head Sakura shoved these thoughts aside she had the early shift at the hospital tomorrow and needed her sleep, she was about to enter the building when she turned and looked at the moon _'Naruto, I hope that you're alive and wherever you are that safe and…happy.'_

* * *

It was 7:50 the next morning and Ino was at the main gates waiting for her new partner to show up. Just then a noise was heard and looking round saw Cloud riding on his motorcycle, he then stopped in front of her "Ready to go?" he asked

"Not yet, the Hokage is sending someone over to give us the message first." The blond girl replied Cloud nodded in reply. As the two of them waited a crowd of people began to gather, no doubt to see Cloud, it seemed news of his identity travelled fast. After twenty minutes of people wanting to shake his hand and asking for autographs (not to mention various women asking if he wanted to go out sometime) so he was glad when Kurenai came into view, reaching into her kunai pouch she pulled out a scroll and handed it to Ino

"Good luck." She said

"Arigato." Ino said giving the older woman a bow, she then began walking towards the gate as the guards opened them, when Cloud asked

"So you gonna walk the whole way?" he then pulled up along side her and she stared at the contraption he was seated upon.

Although the Elemental Countries weren't lacking in technology vehicles were not a common sight and the thought of actually riding one seemed totally unnecessary for ninja such as herself.

Deciding to give it a try Ino climbed on,

"Hold on." Cloud advised hesitantly he felt her wrap her arms around his waist. He then reached into one of the pouches on his belt taking out his sunglasses and placing them on his face. He then kick started the engine into life and revved it a few times causing the crowd that had gathered to jump slightly, a small smile on his face he released the brake and tore off the village through the gates and off into the forests surrounding it.

* * *

Meanwhile far from the village hidden in the leaves, two men dressed in long black robes decorated with red clouds their heads covered by straw hats. They were standing atop a cliff looking down upon the village hidden in the sand.

"Are you sure that scum's information can be trusted?" the taller of the two asked his partner said nothing, his red eyes staring straight ahead

"This better not be a total waste of time." The first said letting out a grunt of frustration

"Patience Kisame, well find out soon enough." His partner replied.

* * *

AN Ok I finally got the second chapter written and before sometime in the New Year. Sorry if this one is a little disappointing, Kakashi offering Cloud an important right away is really unlikely but I couldn't think of anything else and I needed something to move the plot along. Pairing still hasn't been decided but they'll be some resolve about that at some point although I have decided Sakura will play a major in this, I have this whole redemption thing going with her similar to what Cloud went through in Advent Children and Vincent in Dirge of Cerberus.

Just a couple of things 1) ShadowDragonGX, never ever compare Sasuke to Vincent, for one Vincent is cool and Sasuke is a dick, Death to the Uchida.

2) Primal Chaos, I am not doing NaruxHina because I don't like that pairing, and before you send me a PM and get all bitchy I don't hate Hinata just the pairing. Deal with it.

3) I kinda need some help, there re going to be ninja fights at some points and I'd rather have the Japanese names of jutus, my Japanese is pretty much non existents so I was wondering and every translation sight I visit always gives my the translation in Kanji, so could someone help me out.

Anyway I'll get started on chapter 3 when I can, I'm pretty busy as the moment.

Have a good Christmas and New Year and I'll be back in 2008. Later y'all


	5. Chapter 3

AN  
"Blah"- Normal speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
_"Blah"_- Memories dreams ect  
"BLAH"- Jutsu 

* * *

_Naruto  
_Final Fantasy VII:  
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 3

Cloud sat atop a large dune amongst the seemingly endless sea of sand. It had taken a day and a half to pass across the boarder that separated Fire and Wind country, and in another few miles the city of Suna would be visible on the horizon. He was taking a moment to dip into the water supply. Looking over he saw his travel companion who was lying in what shade the shadow of his bike could provide. 

Ino stared at the sky _'Wow the clouds here are different then the ones back home, it's also kind of relaxing. No wonder that lazy ass Shikamaru likes staring at them.'_ her thoughts dwelled briefly on the pineapple haired Nara.

Although she'd know him most of her life due to her fathers comradeship with Shika's father, this comradeship however wasn't passed onto their children. Even at a young age she thought he was a lazy ass wasting his time looking at clouds, and he thought she was a loud troublesome girl.

At the Academy they never really spoke to one another, she was too busy trying to attract Sasuke and Shika spent his days sleeping in class and ending up in detention with Chouji Kiba and Naruto. Sure they were placed on the same Gennin squad and yes she admitted she admired him for his tactical brilliance as well as his mastery of his clans shadow control jutsu, there was one problem: he wasn't Sasuke.

It was at the Chunin exams her opinion of him began to change seeing how he overcame that Sound nin as well as his match against Temari despite him forfeiting at the end.

It was after that he was promoted to Chunin that she begin to see him as more then a lazy ass, however the mission to retrieve Sasuke changed that as well as the repercussions of that missions that drove a large wedge between them: Naruto.

She'd blindly been part of the crowd that had cheered when she'd learned of his banishment over the condition he'd brought Sasuke back in, Shikaramu however defended his friend and called her ignorant for believing Naruto was the source of all the villages problems as well as being part of the crowd who seemed to worship the ground the Uchiha traitor walked on.

This had led to a major falling out and camaraderie they'd developed was shattered in that moment, it was then 15 days later Sasuke, who'd been in a coma since Naruto brought him back, awoke and turned traitor again, it was soon after that she learned what had happened at the Valley of the End, it was also the day her childish obsession with the Uchiha died.

Although it took a while, she and Shikamaru managed to reconcile themselves to the point they could cooperate with one another on missions but then everything changed with Asuma's death and Team 10 slowly began drifting apart. Chouji began training to be part of the city guard whilst she started training under Tsunade along with Hinata and Sakura after she convinced the lady Hokage after she'd earned the position back.

Shikamaru however was now Komoha's representative to Suna and from what she heard worked pretty close with the Kazekage's sister, Temari. She sighed sadly, she had to except that the lazy Nara was now beyond her reach.

Trying to get her mind off Shikamaru she turned her gaze on Cloud _'Well his certainly hottie material, and yet there's something about him that familiar. Thinking about it he kinda looks like the Yondaime or maybe an older Naruto.'_

Another sad sigh passed her lips at the thought of the blond hyperactive ninja.

When she found out about the relationship between Naruto and Kyuubi as well as the circumstances of the Yondaime's death she didn't know what to think, it would have been so easy to fall back into crowd along with so many in the village. It was something her former academy instructor, Iruka, said which made her question those beliefs: _"If you fill a glass with water, dose that make it water also?"_

She'd had to rack her brains for sometime to figure out its meaning, contrary to what many in the village believed Naruto wasn't the demon, merely then vessel that contained it. However when she had figured that out it depressed her as she had been apart of that crowd that had made his life hell everyday. Well actually that wasn't entirely true

_"Hey otou-san kaa-san."_ A much younger Ino cried out cheerfully as she entered her home her parents came into view

_"Hi sweetie."_ Her mother greeted her

_"Hey there's my little buttercup."_ Her father said as he scooped her up holding her high above his head _"Well, you seem pretty chipper. Anything happen today?"_

Ino beamed at the pair _"I made a new friend today."_ She told them proudly

_"That's wonderful sweetie."_ Her mother replied her father then placed her back on the ground _"I was in the park looking at all the pretty flowers and then I tripped and fell and cut my knee. Anyway I was crying when this kid comes up to me and asked if I was alright, then he bandaged my knee and stayed with me telling a whole bunch of jokes and other stuff to get me to stop crying."_

She pulled up her skirt to show her parents the orange handkerchief that was wrapped around her knee.

_"Well that was nice of him."_ her mother then unwrapped it _"Tell you what I'll wash this then next time you can give it back to him when you next you see him."_

Ino giggled.

For the next week both she and Naruto had been friends…that was until her parents learned of her new friend's identity when he came over to see her, they threw him out of the house her father threatening to gut him if he ever went near her again. She'd really upset after that however her parents told her they were only did it to protect her and began teaching her to hate him.

Ino heard her name being called which snapped her back to reality, she saw Cloud standing over her offering her his hand

"Time to go, I want to reach this place soon so we can get out of this heat." He said.

Saying nothing in reply Ino took his hand and let him pull her up off of the ground and climbed onto his bike, before setting off Cloud offered her the flask with the last of the water in it which she gratefully expected, soon the engine roared into life and the two of them were once more on their way.

Meanwhile seated on a bed in one of the sand villages more shabbier hotels was a figure dressed in a black robe decorated with red clouds _'Its coming, I can feel it.'_

After another forty minutes of driving Ino and her companion found themselves before the gates of Sunagakure no sato. Two of the village guard appeared out of nowhere before them 

"State your business." One of them said in a gruff voice Ino climbed off the motorcycle 

"I am Ino Yamanaka, representative of Konohagakure no sato. We are here to deliver an important message to the Kazekage." She then reached into her kunai pouch and pulled out her documents confirming her identity 

"Very well, but what about him?" the other guard said indicating to Cloud 

"He's with me." Ino replied firmly, the guards stared at Cloud for a few more moments before handing Ino's documentation back to her before performing a few hand signs and the gates of the city opened 

"Fine, but he better not try any funny stuff. We'll inform the Kazekage of your arrival." The two of them vanished in a swirl of sand leaving the two blonds on their own 

"Well that was friendly." Cloud commented 

"Yeah well Suna nin aren't exactly known for their manners." Ino replied, she then climbed back on the bike. 

The two of them then raced off towards the Kazekage's tower. Once they arrived they entered and began making their way up the many flights of stairs that led to the Kazekages office at the top of the tower 

"Geez, how many steps are there in this place?" Cloud gasped out of breath 

"Oh suck it up." Ino told him in an irritated tone 

"Haven't you people ever heard of an elevator?" Cloud asked Ino looked at him confused "Never mind." 

Once they reached the top they were told by the sectary to wait outside the Kazekages office till they were called. The sound of footsteps caught the pair's attention and a blond woman, her hair tied into several bunches, who was clad in a black battle dress with a large fan strapped across her back. Following her were three tanned kids, who were around the same age as the ones Hinata had on her team. 

The first was a boy with dark brown hair and matching eyes wearing a red wife beater that bore the sand village symbol, kaki shorts and black fingerless gloves as well as a pair of spectacles hanging off his nose. 

The second was another was another young man this time with blond hair and blue eyes wearing a white short sleeved unbuttoned shirt revealing a fishnet one underneath and black pants with several pouches sown onto them. 

The last one was a girl who was shorter then her two team-mates who did however did bare a slight resemblance to the other blond. She was wearing a fishnet body suit with a white-ish shirt/skit thing over the top and a red ribbon tied around her waist (I suck at descriptions, its basically the same thing Temari wore at the Chunin exams). 

"Ino-san!" "Temari-san." The two girls greeted one another 

"What are you doing here?" the blond sand nin asked 

"Were here to deliver an important message to the Kazekage." Ino replied "So what's with the little ankle biters tailing you, you have candy stuck to your butt?" 

"Hey you take that back." The blond girl yelled, she then turned her gaze upon Temari with stars in her eyes "Temari-sensei, is the greatest Kunoichiever. We are so lucky to have her as our sensei, I just know with all her teachings we'll be the best at the Chunin exams..." 

After that the seemed to vanish into her own little world still with that star struck look on her face, it was actually quite disturbing so they were quite glad when the blond boy removed his shirt and dropped it over the girls head. 

Ino looked at Temari and began laughing "Temari-sensei! You have a Genin squad?" 

Temari fumed "It wasn't my idea, more student then we expected graduated from the academy and I'm now stuck with the little monsters." 

"We love you to, Temari-sensei." The brunette said in a sarcastic tone whilst the other boy just rolled his eyes. 

Cloud, who had no idea what was going on, stood there in silence watching trying to make sense of it all. From what he could gather this Temari was doing something probably not a lot of people would associate with her "I'm sure your doing a good job." 

Temari heard an unfamiliar voice and looking past Ino she saw a tall blond haired man dressed in black with a large sword strapped to his back. The first thing that came to mind was that he was handsome but she also could tell he was a somewhat of a brooder _'Shame, it's a waste of such a cute guy. However…there's something else, something familiar but I can't seem to place it.'_

"Temari, Temari." The sound of her own name brought the sand Kunoichi back to reality and found Ino standing before her waving her hand in front of her eyes 

"I see your back with us. What happened, checking out the tall drink of water I brought along. Careful, I'm pretty sure Shikamaru wouldn't be too happy if he found out you were interested in other guys." Ino teased, Temari began making spluttering noises and a blush appeared on her face, Ino had gotten under Temari's skin and she was revealing in it. Temari quickly tried to compose herself however a slight pink tinge still remained, she turned to the blond stranger 

"So…um who are you?" she asked 

"My names Cloud." The stranger said introducing himself 

"So, are you going to introduce us to these little munchkins?" Ino asked 

"Fine, the brunette is Orion. The blond is Daichi and his sister Nene." Temari told her in an exasperated tone 

"Ignore her." Daichi told her "She's just cranky because her that weird ninja with the pineapple hairdo won't go out with her." 

It was then all hell broke lose. Temari face instantly developed a sun burn whilst Ino was (literally) rolling on the ground with laughter, Nene had come out of her trance like state and was now verbally tearing Orion a new one. Cloud and Daichi looked on a similar expression on bother their faces _'Why did I agree to this?'_/_'What did I do to deserve these buffoons.'_

It was then the sectary appeared and told the blond swordsman that the Kazekage would now see them. Cloud nodded, he then took hold of Temari's hand and gave it a small shake "Nice meeting you." 

He then picked Ino off the floor and they entered the Kazekage's office, Ino still had a small grin on her face. 

Gaara sat behind his desk trying convince himself that every last document he signed was one less he'd have to rather then another one that needed to be. 

_'Sometimes I think they just make stuff up whenever they think that the pile isn't big enough.'_ He thought as he came across a request to approve that all the cats in the village should wear leg warmers. 

* * *

AN: Its politics, don't ask 

* * *

A brief image of him using his trademark Desert Coffin technique to crush the pieces of paper crawled into his mind which brought a smile (albeit a very very small one) to the Kazekage's face. 

Just then a commotion outside brought him back to reality _'… I suppose I should let the representatives from Konoha in before my 'charming' sister causes an international incident.'_

He pressed a button on the intercom and told his sectary that he would see them now. The door of his office opened and in walked the figure of Ino Yamanaka as well as a man with spiky blond hair dressed in black with a large sword on his back. Ever since the Akatsuki had harvested the Ichibi no Shukaku from him his life had gotten slightly easier, he didn't have to worry about a ravenous racoon/dog threatening to take over his body and could now sleep. 

However even without the monster's presence inside him, he was still sensitive to things that others were not. Something about this man was familiar to him. It was more then just his features or his presence, there was something else. It was like his body was radiating something however at the same time it was being masked so only a small amount of whatever it was could get through. 

"Greetings Kazekage-sama." Ino greeted him whilst her companion simply bowed respectively. Ino then fished the scroll out of her kunai pouch "Hokage-sama entrusted us with this message to you." 

She then handed it to the red haired man who excepted it, he then performed some hand seals before biting down on his thumb drawing some blood and smeared some across the paper which then opened up and something fell out which then bounced off the desk and onto the floor 

"If you don't mind me asking, what's the message about Kazekage-sama?" Ino asked in a fake sweet tone 

"Ah It's just some details about the Chunin exams. Nothing to extreme." Gaara replied before bending down and picking up the object that had fallen on the floor 

"And what was that thing that fell out?" 

"Um, nothing, nothing at all." Gaara said as he tried to hide it with the sleeve of his robe. 

Ino however didn't believe him, leaning over the desk she renched the object out of his hands which turned out to be an orange book bearing the title 'Icha Icha Road Trip'. 

Ino stared at the red haired man who was now cowering in fear "PERVERT, PERVERT, PERVERT, PERVERT, PERVERT, PERVERT, PERVERT, PERVERT…" 

Meanwhile seated in an office across town a certain pineapple haired ninja (as well as everyone else in Suna) could hear the Yamanaka's cries and let out a sigh _'Ino is in town, how troublesome.'_

The door of the Kazekage's office burst open and Temari rushed in "What in the name of Kami is all the yelling about?" she demanded. 

Ino said nothing, she just threw the book to Temari, a scowl appeared on her face as she saw what it was and shot a steely glare at her brother. 

"Gaara, my dear brother, what did we talk about." She asked in a steely tone as she walked towards her brother who was sweating buckets. Temari turned her gaze at Cloud and Ino "I suggest you take your leave, as I'm going to have a few words with my brother. Head over to the Kazekage's residences, some rooms have been prepared for you, you can rest up there." 

"Um ok. Arigato Temari." Ino said Cloud just nodded 

"Alight, bye Ino. Bye handsome." Temari flashed Cloud a small predatory smile which made him blush slightly, the two of them then left the room the sound of cries and crashing beginning as they did. 

Meanwhile Cloud wasn't feeling too good, he felt dizzy those flashes he'd experienced in Konoha, images of what appeared to be a younger versions of the red haired man he'd just met but half his body seemed to be that of some feral monster and a pink haired girl who looked like a younger version of that Sakura girl he'd met at the dinner party, pinned to a tree by what looked like sand. It was then he felt his knees give out and the floor come closer to him and as if from somewhere far off in the distance a voice cried out to him before his world slowly faded away. 

After what seemed like an eternity Cloud's eyes opened once more his dreams filled with a strange voice and strangle red foxes. Cloud found himself lying on a bed in a small airy room. _'What happened to me?'_

Slowly he arose finding his sword, First Tsurugi, leaning against the wall. Sliding the weapon back into its sheath and pulling on his boots Cloud exited the room. After spending sometime navigating the halls of the Kazekage's residence, Cloud found himself amongst the hustle and bustles of the streets of the city. 

The place was so much different from places such as Midgar and Edge, all the building looked as though they had been carved from the rock of the canyon that surrounded the village. After spending some time traversing the streets the blond warrior began to feel the effect of hunger call out to him, not surprising as he hadn't really eaten a proper meal since he left the leaf village. 

Looking about and not seeing any kind of other appealing alternative he headed over to it and sat down "Good afternoon sir." Said a girl who appeared to be in her late teens "Would you like to order something or would you like to browse the menu for a few moments?" 

"The menu please." Cloud replied, the girl smiled then handed him said object which he looked over 

"Excuse me." A voice from caught his attention and looking behind him saw two men each wearing in long black robes decorated with red clouds their heads covered by straw hats. The shorter of the pair had black hair and red eyes with a mark running under each one. The other had blue skin and his face was shark like resting a large sword wrapped in bandages on his shoulder and what looked like a large pot strapped to his back 

"May we join you?" the red eyed man asked, Cloud shrugged his shoulders 

"Sure." The man smiled 

"Thank you kindly." Both men sat down, red eyes on Clouds right and fish face on his left. 

The girl returned "Are you ready to order?" 

"Yes ma'am, I'd like to order the Shōyu ramen and some tea." Red eyes said to her 

"And I'll have the Saporo and some Sake." Fish face added, 

the girl wrote down the order "And you sir?" she asked Cloud 

"I'll have some Miso ramen and some green tea." He replied 

"I'll have the same." Red eyes announced "I'm quite happy to share my pot." 

"You don't have to do that." Cloud told him 

"Its no bother." Red eyes replied "My name is Itachi." He said introducing himself "My companion is Kisame." 

Whilst Cloud was meeting new people Ino was taking advantage to the privet hot spring that was located on the grounds of the Kazekage's residence _'Ah, after sitting on that contraption for a day and a half, this feels like heaven.'_

Just then the sound of an opening door caught her attention and looking round she saw 

"SHIKAMARU!" "INO!" 

Before her with only a towel wrapped around his waist was her former team-mate. The pair stared wide eyed at one another Ino covering herself as best she could till eventually she turned away, Shikamaru still staring at her back 

"So, what are you still standing there gawking like an idiot. Are you getting in or not?" 

"Troublesome" she heard Shikamaru mutter, the Nara unwrapped his towel and placed it on a nearby bench before sliding into the water beside her where they sat in silence. 

"So…what you doing here?" she asked finally breaking the silence 

"I came to take a bath, access to this place is one of the perks of being Konoha's ambassador." Shikamaru replied "So, how are things back in Konoha?" 

"Oh about the same. Gai announced he'll be retiring after the Chunin exams." Ino informed him Shikamaru nodded 

"I almost envy him. Not many shinobi get to choose how they will end their carers." There was another pause "Anything else happen?" 

"Well, before heading here I was approached by Ibiki Morino. He offered me a position in the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Force, he thinks with my clan's jutsu as well as my training under Lady Tsunade and what he could teach me about human psychology I'd be a natural for the position." 

A small appeared on Shikamaru's face "Well if nothing else works, you'd always be able to talk your victim into submission." 

Ino then gave him a small punch in the arm before beginning to laugh which the Nara joined in with 

"Y'know, I've missed you." she told him "Every day." Shikamaru said nothing "Its was like one moment we in the training fields be lectured by Asuma-sensei about the value of teamwork. Next you're promoted to Jonin and the leaf village's ambassador to Suna." 

She then got a surprise when Shikamaru placed his hand on her shoulder "I know what you mean, I miss those days and Asuma-sensei too." 

A sad look appeared on Ino's face, their sensei's death had hit everyone on Team 10 hard, especially Shikamaru who then began adopting many of Asuma's habits and traits (his addiction to nicotine in particular). There was another long silence 

"So what's this I hear about you arriving in town with someone who supposedly resembles the Fourth Hokage?" 

"What, you heard about that already?" 

"News tends to travel fast." A pink ting decorated Ino's cheeks as she preceded to tell him Konoha's celebrity visitor 

"Wow, 'the' Cloud Strife. I'll have to get his autograph." Shikamaru snickered, he then looked over at Ino who seemed lost in thought "Something wrong?" 

"Nothing, its just…" 

"Just what?" 

"Its just when he's around I get this weird feeling, kinda like déjà vu. Its like he reminds me of someone, like a person I knew long ago but have since forgotten." 

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow "Troublesome." He sighed. 

Just then a cloud of smoke appeared out of nowhere a Suna nin emerging from it, Ino screamed as tried to cover herself before screaming blue murder "AGHHHHH. PERVERT! TURN AROUND." 

For the sake of his ability to make babies, the nin quickly turned his back on the scene 

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked in a slightly bored tone. 

The nin turned away (doing his best to keep his gaze fixed upon Konoha's representative) and said two words before disappearing "The Akatsuki." 

Moments ago in the Kazekage's office, Garra and Temari both seated at the desk not talking to each other. 

The Kazekage was quietly going through some forms that needed to be sighed trying to avoid his sisters disapproving glare. It was then one of the Jonin guards poofed into the office 

"I apologize for the intrusion Kazekage-sama however it is a matter of urgency." The Jonin said 

"Speak." Gaara said bluntly 

"We have just been informed of two suspicious people within city limits Kazekage-sama. Reports say they were wearing black cloaks with red clouds printed on them." this caught both the sibling's attention. 

"The Akatsuki. How did they get in?" Temari demanded 

"I don't know but I was informed by many people that after speaking with the individuals that say they saw them they would begin to feel drowsy and forgetful. Based on that it would seem they used some sort of Genjutsu." 

Temari turned her eyes upon Gaara who had placed his on his stomach, she had a pretty good idea what he was thinking _'Why have they returned. They have already extracted the Ichibi, so what could they possibly want?'_

He then looked up "Has Kankuro returned yet?" 

"No, he's still out on mission." The Jonin replied. 

Gaara rose from his seat and removed him robes "The two of you round up as many Jonin and ANBU as you can kind and tell them to meet me outside in ten minutes." 

The Jonin nodded and poofed away. Gaara got up and began walking towards the door, Temari then appeared in front of him blocking his way "And where do you think your going? I know your Kazekage now but I am not about to let you do something stupid. Last time you fought these people you nearly died." She said sharply 

"I know." He replied "But I have to do this, as you said I am Kazekage and it is my responsibility to protect the people of this village." 

"But you can die." She replied 

"Then I will die defending my people. That is the way of the shinobi." 

A small pool of sand appeared under Temari's feet which her brother used to levitate her off the ground and move her out of the way before heading out of the office, Temari watched as her brother exited _'Gaara, please be careful…I don't wish to lose you.'_

Within minutes many Jonin as well as a handful of ANBU, and Shikamaru and Ino, had gathered outside the tower where Gaara and Temari was waiting for them 

"Kazekage-sama. Is it true, have the Akatsuki really returned?" one of the Jonin asked 

"It would appear so." Gaara replied, his eyes fell upon Shikamaru and Ino "May I ask what you are doing here? This is Suna's problem, there is no need for you to get involved." 

"Not involved! Gaara the Akatsuki are a threat to everyone, not just Suna. Besides Shikamaru and I have experience fighting these bastards, that makes us qualified for this." Ino retorted, she was about to go on when Shikamaru stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder 

"Kazekage-sama, as your probably aware out sensei was murdered by the Akatsuki. Because of them his child has grown up never knowing his father or his guidance. We owe it to him, his memory, to his son, to Kurenai and to his honour." 

Both Gaara and Temari stared at the pair, Gaara then nodded "Very well." 

He turned his focus back to the people who has assembled "Split up and search the village. If you find them do not engage, radio in and call for the rest of us. These people and more dangerous then anything else you've ever face, do not try and engage them alone." 

"Hai." The group said before they disappeared leaving Gaara Temari Shikamaru and Gaara as the only ones left 

"We'd better move, I don't want these scum in my village any longer then they have to be." Gaara said, he then leapt up onto the roof of a nearby building with the other three close behind. 

Back at the ramen stand Cloud was enjoying his meal along with his new acquiesces 

"…and so I tell the gut: Sorry pal I thought she was your wife." Itachi began laughing and banging his fist on the counter. For Kisame this was beyond creepy, in all the time he'd known him the Uchiha had never laughed or even cracked a smile or told a joke. 

A small smile appeared on Clouds face as he got up, he then reached into his pocket and threw some money on the counter "Nice meeting you guys." 

"Don't worry the pleasure was all ours." Itachi replied. Cloud began walking away from the stand when Ino along with Temari that red haired guy and a guy with black hair tied up in a manner that resembled a pineapple. 

"Cloud, get away from those two." Ino cried out 

"What?" 

"Their both wanted criminals and are both extremely dangerous." Temari added firmly. 

Gaara began walking forward "Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. Both ranked as S class criminals and members of the criminal organization know as the Akatsuki. Tell me what are you doing here?" 

"I have no obligation to answer your question and I also advise you leave whilst you still have the chance. The Akatsuki have no longer any interest in you." Itachi retorted, he then fixed his gaze upon the girl behind the counter who was trying to sneak off "You, more tea." 

Kisame rose from his seat drawing the large sword on his back "Please let kill them. After all I've always wondered how I'd fair against someone of Kage level." 

Gaara frowned (really, how can you tell?) he then performed a hand seal "SUNA BUSHIN NO JUTSU." 

Then from the ground came two perfect sand statutes of Gaara "Go find the others, we'll hold them here as long as we can. But don't take too long, these two their a dangerous pair." _'Itachi especially, one look in those eyes…'_

"Hai." The two sand clones said before disappearing 

"Oh how sweet, the Kazekage is sending word to his little friends. That's so touching I might just puke." Kisame sneered Gaara glared at him "Y'know you might want to drop that expression, after all if the wind were to change direction you may get stuck like that." Kisame taunted Gaara still didn't say anything 

"Y'know, your no fun." The fish man pouted slightly, he then formed his own seal "Guess I'll invite a few of my own friends to the party. SUITON: MIZU BUSHIN NO JUTSU." 

The top of the large pot, that had been left by the stand, suddenly exploded and several gallons of water came surging out taking the form of two dozen Kisame's "You like it, its such a simple idea. By carrying such a large amount of water around with me I don't have to waist my chakra creating it from scratch." Kisame grinned _'Of course, I almost got a hernia lugging that sucker around.'_

"You're telling us you lugged that thing around this whole time? I almost feel sorry for you." Temari said in a mocking tone, she then performed a series of hand seals "Almost. FUUTON: KAZE SHURIKEN NO JUTSU." 

Removing her fan from her back she imbued it with wind chakra and swung it unleashing several spinning disks made of wind. 

"FUUTON: KAZEKIRI." There was suddenly a burst of wind that instantly nullified Temari's attack. The group of Suna and Leaf nin along with the ex-SOLDIER were stunned, they'd heard Itachi's voice but not one had seen him move. 

Kisame smirked "Shall we begin." 

He and his clones raised their swords. Cloud gritted his teeth and instantly drew First Tsurugi. In an instant Gaara Temari, who readied her fan, Shikamaru who took out trench knives the same weapon of choice of his deceased sensei, and Ino who took out two kunai. 

"Cloud you don't have to get involved." Ino told the blond swordsman 

"You may want to take her advise, amazingly enough she's right for once. These two are incredibly dangerous and besides this isn't your problem." Temari added, which earned her a death glare from Ino. 

Cloud didn't reply his eyes narrowing and still locked on the two men at the ramen stand, he had felt something was off about them when they sat down. Especially the guy with the red eyes. "It is now." 

"FUUTON: SUNAARASHI." Gaara cried and strong gust of wind appeared from nowhere kicking up an almost blinding veil of sand. Kisame instantly covered his eyes, the sand was almost blinding he could barely make out the outline of the shinobi (and swordsman) standing only meters away before him. He was totally unprepared when a tendril of sand emerged and would have impaled him if he hadn't blocked it with his sword. 

The sand was beginning to die down Gaara when two Kisame clones emerged from out of the ground both with their swords raised and a third appearing right behind them _'Crap, not enough time to form my sand armor…'_

He needn't have worried as the two clones before him were quickly reduced to a puddle of water, Cloud was before him water dripping off his sword which he then used to block the blade of the third clone. "You ok?" Cloud asked to which Gaara didn't reply but merely nodded. He then created more sand tendrils which were fired at the clones destroying several of them. "Y'know your no fun Gaara if you're just going to play with my clones." Kisame said in a mock pout "Come on Gaara, come play with me. Let's see who is the more brutal in combat, the Beast of the Dessert or the Scourge of the Mist." "It's alright Nii-san, you go deal with him." Temari told her red haired brother "We can handle these clones whilst you deal with him." "As troublesome as it is to agree with her, Temari-san is right. Besides out of all of us you're most likely the best choice to deal with him." Shikamaru added as he dispatched a clone with his Kage Mane Shuriken technique. "Alright." Gaara said plainly, a small tornado of sand kicked up and he disappeared leaving Temari Shikamaru Cloud and Ino to fend for themselves, Shikamaru utilising a combination of his shadow based justu and Asuma's trench knives Temari with her fan Cloud with his sword and Ino who was utilising the medical ninjutsu she'd learned under Tsunade. However the Yamanaka was having the most trouble, physical combat had never really been her strong point, she'd always preferred to use her families mind control techniques to deal with her opponents. Unfortunately that ability wasn't going to be of any use here as clones weren't sentient and even if it did work it was highly doubtful that it would work against a ninja of Kisame's level. She had just dispatched one clone with Chakra no Mesu when three more clones appeared out of the ground both her with a sick looking grin on their faces 

"MIZU BUSHIN BAKUHA." Two of the three clones in front of her exploded sending Ino's drenched carcass crashing to the ground 

"You like that then you'll love this, after all after hauling all that water all the way here why waist it." the remaining clone performed some hand seals "SUITON: SUIROU NO JUTSU." 

He then reverted to a puddle which mingled with the water from the destroyed clones, it then rose up and formed spherical prison, another water clone appearing atop it to maintain it trapping the Yamanaka inside. 

"Ino." Shikamaru cried out _'Damnit.'_

He then noticed Cloud running towards the sphere cutting down a few water clones as he did. He then reached into one of the pouches on his belt and took out a small blue orb he slotted into some sort of bracelet that was hidden by his glove 

"You must have some sort of death wish." It then performed a series of seals "SUITON: SUIKOUDAN NO JUTSU." 

A column of water merged from the sphere and launched itself at Cloud 

"FUUTON: KAMAITACHI." Temari suddenly appeared in midair and gave her fan, which had been imbued with her own chakra, mighty swing. A burst of wind was launched from it and sailing towards the water, blocking it and created a tornado where it was then ripped apart. 

What no one had noticed however was that the second Temari had launched her attack which distracted everyone, Cloud had dived to the ground and soccer tackled his way towards the sphere. It was then the clone noticed the blond "What, how the hell…" Cloud slammed his hand onto the surface of the sphere "Blizzard…" 

Within seconds both the surface of the sphere and the clone on top had been turned to ice, the blond swordsman then slammed his fist on the ball of ice causing it to shatter releasing Ino from inside it falling atop of Cloud who used his body to cushion her fall. 

Temari smiled as her feet met terra firma, she didn't know what the blond swordsman had been planning but she had still been quick to assist. Just then one of the Kisame's appeared just above you "You've got a pretty face, shame I have to mash it into a bloody pulp." 

It swung its blade at her _'No…too fast…can't get out of the way in time…'_ then just before the clones Samehada could smash her head open like a melon Shikamaru appeared before her, using the two trench knives to block the clones sword, he then kicked the clone in the gut dispelling it 

"Thanks." Temari said to him to which Shikamaru just shrugged "Whatever." 

Temari then let out a huff "Fine be like that. It's not like you're the only viable choice around here." Her eyes fell upon Cloud who was dispelling clones left and right with his sword and ice magic 

"As a matter of fact I see a pretty fine candidate right now." A smirk appeared on her face when she saw the Nara flinch. 

Meanwhile the real Kisame was going toe to toe with Gaara, at the moment every time the shark man attacked Gaara's Suna no Yoroi would intercept however the problem was Kisame's sword, Samehada, was draining the chakra with each blow _'This isn't good…can feel my chakra getting weaker.'_

Kisame raised his sword for another attack _'This might be my only chance…'_ "SUNA SHURIKEN NO JUTSU." 

Utilizing his chakra Gaara fired several fired several spinning disks made of sand at Kisame driving him back several feet 

"This will end you, SABUKU KYUU." sand rose up from the ground and wrapped itself around Kisame's legs restraining him in place, it then began to trail itself up his body till he was entirely encased. There was then the sickening sound of bones cracking and then silence. Pleased with himself Gaara dispelled the sand however within the sand instead of human remains was the broken pieces of a stool 

_'Argh, a Kawarimi.'_ Gaara grimaced. 

Just then Kisame appeared rising up from the sand "Frustrating isn't it, you thought you had me." The smirked "It is amazing though, out of all the jutsu I posses, with all their destructive power it is sometimes the simplest and most basic that can save your hide." 

He charged towards Gaara sword raised prepared to bludgeon him when his weapon was intercepted by that of another. As if out of nowhere Cloud had appeared before Gaara blocking the former mist nin's sword with his own 

"Y'know if you'd waited your turn I would have gotten around to you eventually. But if you're that eager to die I'll be sure to accommodate you." Kisame sneered and made to take another swing at the blond who parried it. 

The fish faced man went to take another swing which Cloud was prepared to block, what he wasn't prepared for was that Kisame's attack was a bluff and found the blade resting against his left bicep 

"Shall I tell you something interesting about my sword, Samehada." Kisame said a smug look on his face "My sword is unique, because unlike most blades it's not designed to slash. Instead it cuts the opponent to ribbons." 

Kisame then pulled his sword back its spiked edge catching Clouds arm and tearing away the material as well as some of the flesh underneath Cloud let out a cry of pain, then just as he did when he fought Kadaj tore the ruined cloth away, Gaara noticing the wound on his arm healing up. 

Cloud growled as he stared at Kisame who was sneering at him "You bore me, I should just kill you now and put you out of my misery." 

He was about to finish the Cloud but to his surprise found he couldn't move his legs "What the hell?" 

Jjust then a tendril of sand shot out from the ground and wrapped itself around his arms restraining them. 

Cloud took this opportunity and began delivering a barrage of blows to the fish man, he may not come anywhere close to Tifa's level when it came to hand to hand combat however it had been a part of Shin-Ra's SOLDIER training so he knew how to deliver a far amount of damage using only his own body. 

He unleashed a barrage of punches before slamming his knee into Kisame's gut before delivering an axe kick to the face with enough force to break the sands hold on Kisame sending him crashing to the ground. 

Kisame got shakily to his feet spitting out some blood, he felt something rising up in the back of his throat and spiting out saw that mixed in with his own blood and bile was one of his teeth. 

Itachi placed his cup on the counter "Your getting sloppy, Kisame. It's never taken you this long to kill anyone." He told his partner in a bored tone 

"Shut up, I'm the one doing all the work here." The shark man snapped at his Uchiha partner who rose from his seat 

"I suppose I should offer you some assistance then, I'd like to get back to my tea." Itachi took a few steps past the stand and knelt chakra gathering in the palm of his hand "KATON: HONO'O NO KABE NO JUTSU." 

He placed his hand on the ground and a small fire appeared, this then snaked forwards and grew larger and encircled the ramen stand Kisame Gaara and Cloud cutting them off from the others 

"There. Now that I have cut them off from a means of retreat as well as reinforcement, you should be able to handle them." Itachi said as he headed back to his seat and sat back down. 

"Oh yeah, thanks for the help partner." Kisame scoffed, he then performed a hand sign and more water clones came into being. Both Cloud and Gaara shot one another a quick glance before steeling themselves for the oncoming attack. 

"You deal with blondie, I want the Kazekage all to myself." Kisame ordered 

"Hai." The clones replied, they then began their attack a small smile formed Kisame's face as he quickly ran through some hand signs 

"SUITON: SUIKODAN NO JUTSU." Several of the clones suddenly dissipated changing into a puddle from which rose a column of water which was fired at Cloud who tried to block the attack with his sword, the attack striking his blade and pushing him back several feet and almost into the fire wall before it stopped. However he wasn't given a moment to recuperate as the remaining clones were soon on him. 

"Now that he's taken care of, looks like it's just you and me." Kisame said, Gaara made no comment as he prepared to combat the Akatsuki member. 

"SUNASHIGURE." Some of the sand rose into the air above Kisame's head. A small smile appeared on Gaara's face 

"SUNA: RAISHIN." The sand above Kisame's head rained down from the sky in the form of hardened spikes. Using his sword the former mist nin was able to prevent himself from getting impaled of any of them but he was quickly surrounded by them. In a flash the spikes began generating electrical energy which arced towards and was fired at Kisame. 

"SUITON: TAIHOUNDAN." Water began gathering in Kisame's mouth which he spat out at Gaara as a stream of water, the attack absorbing the electrical energy carrying it within itself striking Gaara with both energies. 

Whist this was going on Cloud was dealing with the water clones, they were tenacious and it seemed endless he cut down one and another took his place. Narrowly avoiding an attack by one of the clones, Cloud jumped into the air and sailed of the their heads and began running towards where Gaara and Kisame were locked in combat. Then the clones appeared before him rising up from the sand 

"Nice try." One said 

"Did you really think you could get away?" another added 

"I'm gonna cut you to ribbons." A third said. 

Cloud halted and stared at the group of fish men before him. Taking in a deep breath and closed his eyes and began to feel power coursing through his body. Then in an instant his eyes burst open and his body began glowing with energy, he swung his sword above his head a few times before leaping into the air, then he unleashed a vertical slash creating a red wave of energy from which several meteors were emerged from. These rocks crashed into the earth destroying the remaining water clones as well as the sand spikes thus ending the electrical current 

_'Impressive, the lost art of Meteor Rain. One of the seven forbidden sword techniques. Techniques that not even I could master.'_ Itachi thought as he observed from his seat watching as Cloud began running towards Gaara and Kisame _'It seems the information we got from those two insignificant worms was correct.'_

Kisame's eyes narrowed as he saw Cloud heading over _'This guy is good, never saw a move like that before. If I wasn't busy dealing with sand boy I'd keep making clones and sit back take notes, however…'_ "I don't know how you pulled that off, but you won't get the chance to do it again." hequickly created two more clones thenperformed some hand seals 

"SUITON: SUIRYUUDAN NO JUTSU."The clones reverted back to water and from them a column of water in the form of a dragon that surged at Cloud smashing him into the ground and knocking the wind out of him. 

"Now that's done I can focus on you." Kisame formed some more hand seals "SUITON: TEPPOUDAMA." his face then expanded before firing several spheres of water at Gaara 

"SUNA SHURIKEN NO JUTSU." The Kazekage retaliated with his sand shuriken's which intercepted several of the water bullets, however he wasn't able to block all of them. One of the water orbs struck Gaara in the chest followed by another aimed at his knee, despite their small size it turned out each one of those balls contained a fair amount of chakra. 

If Kisame could grin at the sight of the Kazekage on his knees he would have however his mouth was still too full of water _'This is Kage level, if it is I'm disappointed? Oh well, guess I'll just have to settle for blowing his head off.'_

He was about to fire more water bullets when a tendril of sand shot out of the ground and slammed him in the gut dispelling all the water in his mouth knocking him to the ground. 

He then watched as Gaara got back to his feet, the sand winding its way around his leg as if it were a cast or bandage. Grimacing he got to his feet, his whole body screaming in agony, the two shinobi then stood there glaring at one another both panting heavily 

"You're good, I'll give that. I didn't want to have to do this, but you've really pissed me off so you now leave me with no other option." _'This will use up the last of my chakra, but it doesn't look like I any choice now.'_ Kisame ran through a bout two dozen seals 

"SUITON: KYOJIN MIZURYU NO JUTSU." There was a large surge of blue chakra and from the large urn the ground and even from the air itself water appeared in the form of a large serpentine dragon. 

Gaara looked on unimpressed "If you think that can indeterminate me, think again." _'The truth is, I'm almost out of chakra and I don't know how much longer I can continue. Especially since I don't have the Ichibi to fall back on anymore. I have to finish this now.'_ he then performed his own seals 

"DOTON: KYOJIN SUNARYU NO JUTSU." A large rumble and heard as the ground shook, then a large wind came which lifted the sand on the ground into the air as the water did taking the from of a large dragon. The two ninja stared at one another 

"Ha, it seems we have a very interesting situation here." Kisame commented "Water Vs sand in a head on clash, lets see which of our jutsu is stronger." 

The two element dragons charged headlong at one another and meeting head on and entwining. The jutus created by Gaara and Kisame battle on however the two ninja could feel the last of their chakra ebbing away with each passing second 

_'Can't…keep this up much longer.'_ _'Chakra almost gone, have to end it now.'_

Mustering up whatever they had left, the two combatants channelled the last of their chakra into their dragons. 

Then it happened, no one would say how or why but it did. The two element dragons clashed once more, then somehow the water one broke apart and began wrapping itself around the sand one which was itself absorbed into the water creating a single combo dragon. 

From their position behind the wall of flames Ino Shikamaru Temari and the others who had shown up could only watch 

"What just happened?" Ino asked 

"Don't ask me, what happened just now should be impossible." Temari replied. 

Both of them looked at Shikamaru who was in the process of lighting a cigarette "Don't look at me. However from the looks of things that dragon is having an internal conflict." Confused the two women looked up and saw that water/sand dragon was thrashing about 

"If I had to guess I'd say that the chakra used to the two original dragons was infused with the personality and will of the person that created. Gaara's dragon carried over his desire to protect this village whilst Kisame's has his desire to kill, know that those opposing desires have merged with one another this combined creature doesn't know what to do. If it's not destroyed it could start a rampage that will most likely destroy this entire city." He then took a long drag on the white stick and breathed out the cloud of nicotine smoke then muttered "Troublesome." 

Cloud was just getting to his feet as he stared up at the monstrous creation that had been formed from the two opposing elements which seemed to be struggling against itself. Steeling himself he sheathed his into the ground and removed the glove on his right hand and bit down onto his thumb until her drew blood and smeared it on one of the orbs that were attached to bangle on his left writs and formed the ram seal. His body began glowing and red yellow and white orbs bearing different symbols appeared and were sucked into his body 

"Descend from the heavens… Bahamut…" 

Dark clouds began forming over head swirling, then a ray of light burst threw and from it emerged a large dark red dragon with large purple wings and two golden horns. 

On the ground everyone, even the Akatsuki members, stared up in amazement of the large creature that hovered above the village 

"So he does exist." Itachi said to himself "Bahamut, the legendary dragon king." 

"Bahamut, Mega Flare…" Cloud ordered, the beast let lose a terror inspiring roar before fiery crimson energy began forming in its jaws and unleashed a beam at the water/sand dragon, unable to withstand the dragon kings awesome power the water/sand dragon was ripped apart creating a large explosion of dust that blinded just almost everything from sight. 

Kisame covered his mouth and squinted his eyes trying to make out his surroundings. It was then he saw something coming towards him, he raised his sword in defiance however by this time he was too late. Cloud burst forth from the sand cloud, his sword slicing through Kisame's body bringing forth a fountain of blood from his wound and mouth before the former member of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist fell the ground, dead. 

Itachi watched, although on the surface he seemed impassive on the inside his mind was racing _'He beat Kisame. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, he did defeat Sephiroth after all.'_ A small smile then appeared on his face 

_'At last, after all this time an opponent worthy of my power.'_ He thought with anticipation. 

Cloud was catching his breath, the fight with Kisame had taken a lot out of him, looking up he saw Itachi standing mere feet away from him a small smile on his face which the blond found a little disturbing 

"I'm impressed. I never thought I would actually see the death of the 'Bloody Mist'." The renegade ninja said to him, then with an almost none existent flick of the wrist a scroll appeared in his hand. 

As he unravelled it he bit down onto his thumb on his opposite hand drawing some blood which he smeared across the paper and in a cloud of smoke a black bladed katana appeared in Itachi's hand, the Uchiha never breaking his gaze upon Cloud 

"Let's begin shall we." 

Meanwhile far from the Suna Kakashi was seated at his desk raising a saucer of sake to his lips. It seemed that his predecessor Tsunade had hidden quite a large stash in her office and forgotten about it, oh well her loss was his gain he figured. Despite the large amount of paper work his mind was else where, he turned his gaze over to the wall upon which hung pictures of the previous Hokage although one in particular attracted his eyes 

_'I'm a fool, after preaching about 'looking underneath the underneath' how could I have missed something so obvious. All that time the answer was staring me right in the face.'_

Just then there was a knock on the door and Kurenai entered the room "I brought those ANBU reports you requested." She noticed quickly that the former Team 7 leader wasn't paying attention to her, "Hokage-sama…" 

"Tell me Kurenai, tell me how it is possible to ignore something even when it's staring you right in the face?" Kakashi asked to which Kurenai shook her head 

_'Not this again.'_

Another secret had been revealed on the day that would have been Naruto's 18th birthday however this one had been saved for older members that had known Naruto which included Kakashi Tsunade Iruka and so on. It seemed Jiraiya had decided that they should at least know the truth about Naruto's heritage. 

"I should have know that Naruto was Minato- sensei's son, even at a young age Naruto bore a resemblance to him. Every time he flashed that grin I was reminded of Minato- sensei as he used to have the same one. I failed. I failed Naruto by focusing all my energies on an ungrateful brat like Sasuke and in turn I failed Minato-sensei by ignoring his son." 

Kakashi turned his eyes to Kurenai who then slapped him "Kakashi, stop wallowing in self-pity. Yes I admit I was just as shocked as everyone was when I found out that Naruto was the 4th son, and yes we all could have done so much more for him. But that's all in the past and as painful as it is we can do nothing to change it." 

There was a moment of silence as both of them stare into each others eyes "All we can do now is focus on the future and try and insure that such mistakes are not repeated." She then put a file on Kakashi's desk 

"Anyway here are those reports you wanted." She turned to leave when she felt Kakashi grabbed her wrist and looking at him saw a small smile on his face "

Thank you, Kurenai." 

He then released her allowing Kurenai to walk over to the door, but before the exited she looked over her shoulder and returned his smile with one of her own. Once she left Kakashi quickly finished his sake opened up the file and began reading.

* * *

AN Fiiianaly chapter 3 is done, its taken forever for me to write and to everyone who though 'Is this guy ever gonna update' I'm sorry. This one took me a while towrite for various reasons, the main one being I'm supposed to be working as I've got2 essays I need to write . Second I finally got PS3 and I've been on it every moment I could spare on it. And finallythe main reason: fight scenes, I find it relly difficult to write and they really take me some time to do. And consideringthere's going to bean invasion I'm just realizing what I've let myself in for, 'oh crap'. Just a few things, Bahmut in this appears in his FFIX form in this as I personally think it looks better then his FFVII form. Second thank you to Death Phoenix  
and T. E. Rankin for those jutsu, I also found a pretty good list at leafninja. com its a pretty good site so check it out. Finally I know there's been some development in the manga such as Jiraya's death and Sasuke learnin the origin of the Uchiha clan, I know I'm asking alot but could you all please ignore these developments. Its just I've got a pretty good idea of what's going intothis story and incorporate these developments would totally screw it up. Anyway I'll get started on the next chapter as soon as I can, Cloud Vs Itachi oh god have I let myself in for. Oh well till then Peace out and if you celebrate it Happy Easter and if you don't just go eat lots of chocolate, its a win win situation.  



	6. Chapter 4

AN  
"Blah"- Normal Speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
"BLAH"- Jutsu  
_"Blah"_- Dream Memories

* * *

_Naruto  
_Final Fantasy VII:  
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 4

Tsunade looked over at the pile of forms that were in front of her. When she stepped down as Hokage she had become been put in charge of Konoha's medical core for a while but stepped not long after and given the title to Sakura due to her performance during 'The Sickness' crisis. She had to admit the pinkette had come far since her days as an Uchiha brat fan girl and after the slug Sennin had dropped her as her apprentice the girl worked her butt off to earn the position back surpassing both Ino and Hinata.

Although she was now retired Tsunade was still available in case of emergencies. At the moment she was seated in Sakura's office helping the pinkette review files of several shinobi ranging from Jonin to Academy graduates to see if any had the potential to take on as trainees or train as field medics.

Or at least that's what she was supposed to be doing instead she trying her luck with an instant scratch card. Just then there was a knock at the door and both she and Sakura looked up from what they were doing and saw Shizune enter the room

"Greeting Lady Tsunade, Sakura-san." The dark haired women said as she entered the women

"Hello Shizune-sama." Sakura replied whilst Tsunade merely nodded

"This there something you need?" The former Hokage asked.

"Well…er…now that you mention it. Could you please possibly find someone to cover my shift this evening?" Shizune asked in a nervous tone "If you do I promise to make it up to you."

"And why do you need me to do this?" Sakura asked

"Well…you see, I'm…er…meeting someone." Shizune said her voice laced with embarrassment and a small blush on her face.

Sakura and Tsunade glanced at one another

"Shizune, you have a date?" Tsunade said astonished.

She and Sakura then preceded to act like a teenage girl in the playground asking questions like 'Why didn't you tell us' 'Who is it' 'What's he like' 'Is he cute' 'How long have you been going out' and the such all the while Shizune doing an impression of a young Hinata.

"Well we've been together for a while now, we haven't really gone out on that many dates due to him going out on missions and training. He's strong, funny and yes he is cute." She informed the two women who were each waiting for their answers

"You still haven't told us who it is." Sakura said pouting

"Come on tell us." Tsunade pleaded

"No way, you'll laugh and make fun of me." Shizune giggled "Besides, were not ready to tell everyone yet."

"Alright fine, be that way." Sakura replied, sounding slightly disappointed "Tell you what, if you help me and Tsunade-sama with this I'll cover you this evening."

"Oh thank you Sakura-san." Shizune squealed and embraced the younger women

"But, I want details of your date tomorrow." The pinkette said firmly.

Shizune laughed before seating herself at the desk and the three of them set about to work, well Sakura and Shizune did Tsunade focused her attention back on her scratch card.

It was then it happened, Tsunade had just scratched off the last panel when she let out a worried gasped. Hearing this both Sakura and Shizune looked up from the respective files they were reading and saw a dark expression on the Slug Sennin's face

"Tsunade-same, is something wrong." Sakura asked.

Tsunade didn't answer at first the sight before her filled her with dread, three 7's

"I have a very bad feeling…"

* * *

A small breeze picked up blowing some sand into the air and rustled the clothing and hair of the warriors who stood staring at one another, both their weapons glinting in the sun.

Itachi stared at Cloud _'I wonder how long it has been since I had straight fight? Due to the information we acquired on Shin-Ra's SOLDIER program, Genjutsu might not be effective. I also have never really been a fan of direct combat…however that doesn't mean I'm not any good at it.'_

Itachi then began walking forward and Cloud readied himself but was quite surprised when Itachi walked passed him and over to the body of Kisame and knelt down, he then said something that not one could catch before removing the ring from the shark/mans finger and placed it in a pouch under his robe.

Meanwhile Temari Ino Shikamaru and several ANBU rushed over to Gaara who had collapsed, the explosion of the sand/water dragon having extinguished Itachi's firewall.

"He's fine, just exhausted from using all his chakra." Ino informed them once she was through examining him.

Temari then knelt down beside her brother and stared at him "Gaara, you idiot."

She then turned to the ANBU "Take Gaara and get out of here. Take him to the medical core, now."

"Hai." A couple of them picked up Gaara and they disappeared in a swirl of sand.

His business with Kisame's body complete Itachi turned his attention back to Cloud who was getting antsy. Deciding to take the infinitive Cloud charged towards the Itachi and slashed at him which Itachi casually intercepted. Cloud pulled his blade back and swung at Itachi again the former leaf nin blocking each one.

Itachi then surprised Cloud by jumping into the air and landed on the roof of the ramen stand then onto another nearby building, without a second though Cloud cased after him.

"Wow, Cloud is more amazing then his reputation lets on." Ino cheered "He's got Itachi on the run."

"You really are a blond aren't you." Shikamaru stated (which earned him a slap upside the head from both Temari and Ino) "If fighting Itachi was this easy he would have been defeated long ago. No, Itachi is just toying with him."

Cloud continued to chase after Itachi leaping from one building to another _'Damnit. This guys, he's just been playing me.'_

It was then he noticed Itachi standing on top of a telegraph pole

"So you figured it out. Then let me congratulate you by showing you a jutsu I recently perfected." Still holding his sword Itachi ran through some seals "RAITON: RAIKYUUTAI RENDAN."

Lightning enhanced chakra began dancing along the length of his arm before coalescing into a dozen tennis ball sized orbs of pure electricity. The floating orbs of lightning suddenly launched themselves forward at Cloud, in ones and twos, at lightning fast speed.

Cloud skidded to a halt and leapt upwards when one caught him in the shoulder and another in the chest, they then detonated exploding with incredible force sending smashing into the rooftop his body creating a web pattern beneath him.

"Interesting technique isn't it." Itachi said his usual tone carrying a touch of amusement in it "Feel fortunate that I didn't charge those orbs up with enough chakra to kill you."

Cloud then got back onto his feet "Let me show you the technique that the Uchiha clan is famous for. KATON: GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU."

Itachi gathered chakra into his chest and then exhaled unleashing a stream of fire which erupted into a large sphere of flames. Cloud stood there as the flames approached

"Shit…" quickly he began channelling energy into his sword, he then slashed it along the ground creating a beam of energy that sliced the fireball in two and made a beeline for Itachi

_'So, he knows Blade Beam as well.'_ He then raised his sword and deflected the energy away as if he were swatting a fly. Just the Cloud leapt off the building and swung his blade at Itachi's head.

As if to mock him with a mere flick of the head Itachi avoided the attack and as Cloud went sailing past Itachi used his arm and struck him in the back sending him and Cloud went crashing into the roof of another building. Cloud rolled onto his back and saw Itachi land not to far from him

"Is this really all the skill you have, then I must say I'm rather disappointed." The Uchiha said in an emotionless tone "You're clearly not the warrior I thought you…"

He suddenly stopped and brought his hand to his cheek where he felt something warm and sticky, bringing his fingers to his face he was they were stained with red liquid _'Blood? How…when did he…'_

The answer instantly came to him, what if when Cloud lunged at him he hadn't missed completely, even when he moved his head what if the blade had just managed to catch his cheek. Itachi began laughing "You scratched me, you were actually able to scratch me."

Cloud looked at the man in confusion _'So what I scratched him, its not like I hacked off his head!'_

"Confused as to why I'm making such a big deal out of this?" Itachi asked "It's because in all my time in the Akatsuki, no one has ever been able to even lay a finger on me."

Then without warning Itachi vanished and reappeared on the rooftop "No more games, lets do this for real."

The moment those words left his mouth Cloud stopped panting and took up his fighting stance _'So, it seems he was holding back as well.'_

The two of them stared at one another for a few seconds before lunging at one another the sound of their swords striking ringing out across the city.

Whilst both swords were pinned down Itachi made to jab at Cloud with his free hand which held a kunai in it. Before the weapon could reach Cloud there was a clang of metal upon metal, Cloud was holding another blade and had used it to block the kunai Itachi raised an eye brow at this it was then he noticed that the top part of Cloud's sword was missing

"I see, I have to admit that's quite an interesting weapon. One sword that's made up of many interlocking blades." Both of them leapt backwards before once more attacking, the two traded slashes and parries.

Even with his Sharingan, Itachi found it a challenge to keep up with Cloud's attacks _'He's fast, he really does live up to his reputation. This is perfect.'_

The two weapons met once more the force being enough to force both men back. As he was skidding backwards Itachi was already gathering his chakra "KATON: HOUSENKA NO JUTSU."

Itachi began spewing dozens of small fire balls at the blond swordsman who preceded to block each and everyone with his blade

"KATON: GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU." Itachi fired another large at Cloud who was charging up his sword with power and fired another Blade Beam that sliced the fireball in two and towards the Uchiha.

Without even batting an eyelid Itachi proceeded to dispatch this attack as he did the first, what he had not expected to see was Cloud's fist come hurtling towards him seconds before it made contact with his face which knocked him off both his feet and the roof sending him falling towards the sandy streets below.

Panting Itachi managed to raise himself into a kneeling position _'I see, I thought he simply used that attack to stop my fire jutsu but in reality he used it to distract me and to cover his movements. I was careless, I was so preoccupied with his Blade Beam I didn't even think he would attack me. Brilliant.'_

Itachi suddenly dropped to the ground and rolled several times as Cloud dropped from the sky, the tip of his sword embedded in the spot that Itachi had been seconds before. He prepared to strike his opponent when Itachi disappeared in a cloud of smoke

_'What the…'_ Just then he felt a small vibration and looked down in time to see a pair of hands shoot up from the ground, Cloud quickly rolled out of the way before they could grab hold of his legs.

Realizing his jutsu had failed Itachi emerged from the ground and both men stared at one another both panting heavily, the fight taking a lot out of both of them.

"I'm…impressed." Itachi panted "I can't remember when I've been in fight that has lasted this long." He then took a deep breath and closed his eyes

"Know this, I use this jutsu because you have left me with no other option. This maybe first time I have ever been driven into a corner and my only resort now is this." his eyes opened MANGEKYOU SHARINGAN: TSUKUYOMI!"

Cloud stared into those eyes, he couldn't help it as the whole world began to swirl and disperse around her. Everything seemed like a dream to her and yet she knew that this was all real.

Cloud found himself attached to a board in a world that was completely engulfed in a red light that seemed to paint the entire world in a blood red colour. In the sky there was a moon that illuminated the 'dream world' with its bright light. Before him was Itachi with his sword in hand

"Your probably wondering what's going on. This is the Tsukuyomi, the nightmare realm. Here I control everything. Time, space and even all physical mass bend to my will. And don't bother trying to tell yourself it's not real, it won't help make this any less painful." He then raised his sword and placed it over where Cloud's lung was

"Normally I restrict myself to a specific time limit when using Tsukuyomi, however I want to see how long you can last till your mind shatters." He pulled back his sword and Cloud prepared to feel the blade enter his body, but to his surprise it never came. He then noticed a rather disturbing looking smile on the Uchiha's face

"No, I found a better way."

Itachi shimmered out of slight but in his place knelling on the ground was someone Cloud knew all to well "Wha…no, Aerith…"

Aerith's head rose and her eyes opened. She and Cloud stared at one another then from above Sephiroth dropped down, his long sword plunging into the woman's back and sticking out of her chest. Sephiroth stared at Cloud before removing his sword from the woman the pink ribbon in her hair undoing releasing her cinnamon locks and a small glowing orb that bounced away as Aerith fell forward and lay on the ground motionless.

Cloud stared wide eyed at what had just happened, to him it hurt more then being stabbed in the lung.

Suddenly the two figures before him disappeared and Aerith appeared before him once more on he knees and the scene played itself again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Ino Temari and Shikamaru ran towards the place where Cloud and Itachi were fighting, when they got there they found the two of them staring at one another

"What's going on, why are they just standing there?" Ino wondered aloud, just then a shiver went down here spine _'Wait, he couldn't be using that…could he?'_

Just then Cloud's sword fell from his hand before he collapsed.

"Cloud!" Ino rushed over to the fallen man and began checking him whist both Shikamaru and Temari stood over her

"What did you do?" Temari demanded, A small smile graced Itachi's lips

"I'm impressed, he lasted a whole week inside the Tsukuyomi, longer then anyone else ever has."

He then blinked and his eyes reverted back to regular Sharingan and looked at the fallen form of Cloud

"If you can hear me, don't die yet. I want to fight you again. No special techniques no bloodlines." There was then a flurry of leaves and the former leaf nin vanished from view.

The three ninja stood there still staring at the spot Itachi had been only seconds before. Just then two ANBU appeared

"Lady Temari, where has the intruder got too?" "Gone." Temari replied

"Quick, we need to get this man to the medical core." She ordered

"Hai." The two masked ninja took hold of Cloud and vanished in a swirl of sand.

The three ninja quickly parted ways, Ino to the medical core to see what she could do to help whilst Temari and Shikamaru to try and quell the chaos that would inevitably come when the council found out.

Sometime later Ino finally entered the room where Cloud had been brought to by the ANBU. Standing over him was one of the hospitals doctors who appeared to be examining him. Cloud lay there on the bed, his face showing signs of fatigue and his half closed eyes were dull.

"Any change?" she asked. The doctor didn't even turn to face her

"None. Any physical wounds he sustained were treated, however I'm more worried about his mental state. From what your village has told us about the Uchiha's Tsukuyomi…" his voice trailed off, Ino however didn't need him to say anything else she understood.

"Then I guess there's only one thing to do." She then began weaving hand signs

"What are you doing?" the doctor asked

"I'm going to go into his mind and try and asses the damage." she replied "SHINTENSHIN NO JUTSU!"

The next thing Ino knew she felt the oh so familiar feeling of her body and mind being separated followed by a sense of weightlessness as she attempted to find her target, she caught a glimpse of Cloud before she felt herself being dragged back down to earth and her world turned dark.

* * *

The next thing she knew Ino found herself in a long passage way, at first she was confused as to why but then she remembered that she had used her Shintenshin no Jutsu. She then began walking along the winding twisting tunnels until she was forced to stop she found herself in room and in the centre was a pool of water and on the other side was a door way that lead to another tunnel.

Courteously she made her way over to the pool and knelt beside it, looking into it she guessed it was pretty deep but due to the poor lighting in the room she could be wrong. _'I wonder…'_

She placed her hand on the surface of the water then suddenly she felt over come by a rush of emotions and various images flashed before her eyes and sounds filled her ears. Letting out a cry Ino tried to remove her hand but she couldn't it was if it was trapped in concrete

* * *

(Advent Children)

Ino found herself standing on a cliff face a sword lying on the ground, in the distance she saw the ruins of a city. A noise was heard and turning she saw Cloud pull up on his motorcycle.

He then got off picked up the sword and drove it into the ground, he then took a few steps back, he then stood there in silence for a few moments

_"I said I would live out both our lives…easy to make that promise."_

* * *

(Crisis Core)

The scene change and Ino found herself on a mountain trail covered by snow. The sound of footsteps caught her attention and looking round saw a man with black hair in a style similar to Clouds.

Somehow his face reminded her of Sasuke however unlike Sasuke who seemed to always have a permanent scowl present, this guys face was full of laughter and cheer.

Behind the guy was several men all dressed in some sort of military uniform as well as a guy with black hair wearing a black suit, all of whom seemed to be having a hard time keeping up with him.

All except one who was keeping up with easy.

_"Hey! Don't be so slow. You seem to be doing pretty good."_ The black haired man said

_"I'm also from the countryside."_ The solider replied

_"Where?"_ the black haired man asked

_"Nibelheim."_ The soldier replied, the back haired man began laughing _"What about you?" _

_"Me? Gongaga!"_ the black haired man replied, this time the soldier laughed _"Are you laughing? You're laughing aren't you? Do even know Gongaga?" _

_"No. But it's sounds very country-like." _

_"Nibelheim too." _

_"You've never heard of it?" _

_"I've never been there before but there's a mako reactor right? Midgar has the most mako…" _

_"But everyone else has none."_ Both men said at the same time, the two of them began laughing.

The black haired man then turned to the other men _"Be rejoiceful Tseng! With me and…"_

The soldier then removed his helmet and the face of a younger looking Cloud was revealed _"Cloud."_

_"With me and Cloud around there's nothing to be scared of at all!"_ the black haired man said cheerfully

_"Sure,"_ the man she assumed was Tseng replied _"I'll leave it to you two."_

* * *

(Advent Children)

Sitting in a wheel chair sat a person with a white sheet over his head _"You're all we have. Cloud, look, you're an ex-SOLDIER, aren't you?"_

Cloud turned getting ready to leave. _"Hmm. In my head..."_

* * *

(Advent Children)

"_You have Geostigma, don't you? You're going to give up and die, is that it?"_ Cloud didn't respond. _"So it is." _

_"There's no cure." _

_"Yeah, but, that's not stopping Denzel, is it? Don't run! Let's fight it together! We can help each other, I know we can."_

Cloud didn't respond.

The scene changed and Ino saw the two of them sitting atop a large a grain silo, the kind she'd seen when passing through farming communities, under a star filled sky.

_"Tifa, if you ever need me I promise I'll be there for you."_ She heard him say, she was then returned to that bedroom

_"I guess ... that only works for real families."_ Tifa said

_"Tifa..."_ Cloud said _"I'm not fit to help anyone… not my family, not my friends. Nobody."_

* * *

(Advent Children)

She now found herself in a forest amongst trees that glowed like they were made of light, Cloud, who was seated on the ground and a man with pale skin wearing a black body suit with a red cloak and head band, the thing that stood out most about him was the golden gauntlet with clawed fingers on his left hand.

_"See? I knew I'd be no help." _Cloud said then began rubbing his arm and looked at his companion _"Vincent, what do you know about this?" _

_"I come here often. I've seen what Kadaj's crew is doing."_ The man identified as Vincent replied.

Vincent disappeared then suddenly reappeared right beside Cloud and grabbed his arm. _"The stigma. It's a symptom of alien matter infesting the body; the body tries to eliminate it and overcompensates. Inside our bodies is a current, like the Lifestream, that current is what fights off any malevolent intruders." _

_"What do you mean by 'intruder'?"_ Cloud asked

_"The Sephiroth Gene. Jenova's memetic legacy. Call it what you want."_ Vincent replied _"They got their hands on Jenova's Head."_

Cloud stared at him _"Then when Kadaj says he's looking for Mother..." _

_"Heavens dark harbinger. The calamity…Jenova. If they wanted to they could recreate Sephiroth."_

* * *

(Last Order)

The scene again changed and she found herself in one of the strangest places she'd ever been, all around her was metal and wires. And then she saw a figure standing on a platform that was suspended over a seemingly endless abysses.

Ino instantly knew who this was, the One Winged Angel, the devil incarnate, the nightmare…Sephiroth his legendary sword, Masamune in hand.

She'd heard stories of him, everyone in the Elemental Countries had and feared him. They doubted even Orochimaru or Itachi Uchiha could defeat him, and here he was before her and she was beginning to see just what made him so terrifying.

He was standing in front of a tank which contained some sort of creature with the face of a women inside.

_"Its all right now, mother."_ He said as he placed his hands on the glass.

Suddenly a crack appeared on the glass and Sephiroth let out a gasp of pain. Standing behind him was a person dressed in the same uniform that the men walking up the mountain had worn complete with helmet, and he had plunged a sword through Sephiroth's back

_"Who are you…?" _

_"Return my mother…Tifa…and my village!"_ the man said _"I respected you…I admired you, but I…!" _

_"Y…you bastrad…"_ Sephiroth growled. The man pulled the sword from Sephiroth's back and he fell to his knees, the man stood and watched

_"Tifa!"_ he then turned and ran across a tendril like thing that connected the platform with the one Ino was standing on. He ran past her running through a doorway he removed his helmet and familiar blond spiky hair was revealed.

Ino followed him as he ran down a metal staircase and at the bottom was a young women who appeared to be the same age as Cloud.

Cloud picked her up and carried her over to one side and set her down, brushing some hair out of her eyes the women awoke

_"Cloud…so you really did come for me…"_ a small smile on his face

Cloud nodded in reply _"Yeah." _

_"So you kept our promise, huh. You really came here when I was in a pinch…" _

_"I'm sorry, I was a bit late getting here."_ He apologized

_"Not at all. It's fine Cloud."_ Tifa replied.

Just then there was a loud crashing sound, Cloud got up and walked over back to the stairs. There at the top of stairs sword in hand and carrying the head of the creature that was in the tank.

_"By the likes of you…"_ Sephiroth said, pain leaking into his voice, staring directly at Cloud. _"_

_Cloud."_ A voice gasped out and looking round Ino saw the man with spiky black hair from the mountain _"Finish him off."_

Cloud gritted his teeth and picked up the sword that was leaning against the raining of the stairs.

_"By the likes of you…"_ Sephiroth said again.

Cloud raised the blade and charged towards the silver haired man _"SEPHIROTH!!"_

He tried to stick but instead was impaled though the stomach of Sephiroth's blade dropping his sword

_"Don't push it kid."_ Sephiroth then hurled the young man into the room he'd came from sending smashing into the ground before slowly walking towards him

_"By the likes of you human beings... You really thought you could defeat me?"_ he then stabbed Cloud again and dangled him over the chasm _"Remember carefully." _

_"My family…and my home town…you've done it all right! I will never…forgive you!"_ Cloud then grabbed the blade and began pulling himself down it, one his feet we back on solid ground he then hurled Sephiroth into a nearby wall before falling to his knees.

Sephiroth stared at Cloud his face twisted into a look of disbelief

_"Impossible…what the hell are you?"_ Cloud looked up and both Sephiroth and Ino saw his eyes emitting a soft green glow.

A smile appeared on Sephiroth's face _"Mother…come to the promise land with me…"_

He then ran towards the edge clutching the severed head to his chest, an almost serene look on his face as he vanished from sight.

_"Sephi…roth…"_ Cloud gasped before he collapsed.

* * *

(Final Fantasy VII)

Ino found herself on a bridge along with Cloud and the brown haired women as well as large dark skinned man with a large facility in the background.

Between them was a large mechanical thing which towered over all of them which suddenly exploded destroying the section of the bridge that she and Cloud were standing on coursing them both to fall and grabbing hold of a metal support cable to prevent themselves falling to their doom.

_"Its gonna blow! Let's go Tifa!"_ The large man yelled

_"Barret! Can't you do something?"_ Tifa asked desperately

_"__Not a damn thing."_ Barret replied, Tifa then turned her eyes on Cloud _"Cloud! Please don't die! You can't die! There's still so much I want to tell you!"_

Clouds eyes lock with hers _"I know, Tifa…." _

_"Hey, you gonna be awright spiky?"_ Barret asked

_"I don't know if I can hold on."_ Cloud said through his gritted teeth, he then looked at Barret _"You worry about yourselves! I'm all right but take care of Tifa!"_

Barret nodded _"…Alright. Sorry bout this." _

_"Stop talking like this is the end!"_ Cloud retorted

_"Alright then, later."_ Barret replied just then the facility exploded and the force of the explosion caused both Cloud and Ino to lose their grip and they both fell towards the smoke covered buildings below.

It was then everything began going dark which Ino reasoned was because Cloud passed out.

After an unknown length of time she heard a voice crying out, cracking her eyes open Ino found herself and Cloud lying in a flower bed and looking into the gentle face of a woman with cinnamon brown hair and emerald green eyes wearing a pink dress with a red jacket thrown over the top.

_"Are you ok?"_ she asked as Cloud sat up _"This is a church in the Sector 5 slums. It suddenly fell on top of me.it really gave me a scare." _

_"…I came crashing down?"_ Cloud asked, the woman nodded

_"The roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall. You're lucky."_

Cloud shook his head then took a look around _"Flower bed…is this yours?"_

Ino took another look at the plants, being raised into a family that practised botany as well as mind control she was very knowledgeable about many kinds of flora and fauna and could tell that these flowers were very well cared for. Both she and Cloud got to their feet

_"Sorry about that."_ Cloud told the woman who shrugged her shoulder and smiled

_"That's alright. The flowers here are quite resilient because this is a sacred place."_ She then walked over to one side where a watering can was set upon a wooden create

_"They say you can't grow grass and flowers in Midgar but for some reason they have no trouble blooming here."_ She paused for a moment _"I love it here."_

Cloud merely shrugged his shoulder. The woman then walked back over to the bed and began watering the plants

_"…So we meet again."_ she said, Cloud shot her a confused look

_"…You don't remember me?"_ the woman asked in a mock hurt voice.

Cloud took a moment to think, then nodded his head

_"Yeah, I remember, you sell flowers."_ He said the woman's face lit up

_"Oh! I'm so happy! Thanks for buying my flowers."_ She then went back to tending the plants

_"Say, do you have any materia?"_ she asked to which Cloud nodded

_"Yeah, some. Nowadays you can find materia anywhere." _

_"But mine is special. Its good for absolutely nothing."_ The woman informed him

Cloud raised his eyes brown _"…Good for nothing? You probably just don't know how to use it."_

The woman shook her head _"No, I do…Its just doesn't do anything. I feel safe just having it. it was my mothers…"_

She then turned her gaze towards the ceiling momentarily _"Say I feel like talking. Do you feel up to it? After all we are meeting again, right?"_

Ino was getting the impression that she didn't get many visitors.

_"Sure, I don't mind."_ Cloud replied, the women smiled

_"Great. Just hold on a minute, I just need to check my flowers."_ She then walked to the opposite side of the bed set to work making sure the flowers were alright Cloud following her

_"Now that I think about it, we don't know each others names, do we?"_ the woman said cheerfully _"My name is Aerith. Aerith the flower girl, nice to meet you."_

Cloud bowed his head slightly _"My name is Cloud. Me…? I do a little bit of everything." _

_"Oh…a jack of all trades."_ Aerith said

_"Yeah, I do whatever is needed."_ Cloud replied,

Aerith began laughing _"Why are you laughing? What's so funny?" _

_"Sorry…I just…"_

The two of them had been so busy talking that they didn't notice that a man with red hair and wearing a suit had entered the building and had been watching them

_"Sorry, bad timing on my part."_ Aerith then turned to Cloud _"Say Cloud, have you ever been a bodyguard? You do DO everything, right?"_

Cloud scratched the back of his head _"…Yeah, that's right." _

_"Then get me out of here. Take me home."_ Aerith said in a pleading tone.

Cloud looked at the man _"Ok, I'll do it. But it will cost you."_

Aerith frowned _"Well then let's see…How about I go out with you once?"_

Cloud regarded her for a second then nodded. He then took a step in front of her placing himself between her and the man.

_"I don't know who you are but…You don't know me?"_ he took another look at the man

_"Oh yeah…I know you. That uniform…"_

Just then several men dressed in blue combat uniforms appeared

_"Hey sis, this one a little weird."_ The man with red hair spoke up

_"Shut up! You're a Shin-Ra spy."_ Cloud retorted

_"Reno, what this guy taken out?"_ one of the men in blue asked

_"I haven't decided yet."_ Reno replied

_"Don't fight here, you'll ruin the flowers."_ Aerith cried out, she and Cloud began running towards a door in the back wall

_"The exit is back here."_ The two of them ran through it and the world began spinning again.

* * *

(Advent Children)

Cloud standing on the ledge of a ruined building, looking down at a man with silver hair wearing black leather clutching a box in his arm, hanging on to a ledge with only one hand. He then threw the box at Cloud then jumped from the ledge and goes to grab the box and the contents inside.

_"My Reunion... Bet you're dying to watch..."_ the man fell and shoved the contents of the box into himself.

Cloud jumped off the ledge and fell after him.

The man landed on a building below but is not the same person as before. Using his sword Sephiroth blocked Cloud's attack

_"Good to see you, Cloud."_

He then knocked Cloud away, back to the top of the buildings they were on moments before.

She then heard Clouds voice asking _"Are sins ever forgiven?"_

Followed by Vincent's _"I've never tried."_

Sephiroth jumped on a higher building and looked down upon the blond swordsman.

_"Your Geostigma is gone? That's too bad." _

_"Sephiroth, what do you want?" _

_"The last thoughts of Geostigma death. Those remnants will join the Lifestream and girdle the planet…choking it, corroding it. What I want, Cloud, is to sail the darkness of the cosmos with this planet as my vessel… just as my mother did before long ago."_

One of Sephiroth's hands rose towards the sky which turned pitch black. _"Then one day we'll find a new planet and on its soil we'll create a shining future." _

_"What about this planet?" _

_"Well, that's up to you, Cloud."_

Cloud and Sephiroth then flew toward each other their swords clashing.

* * *

(Final Fantasy VII)

The scene changed again, Ino now found herself in a place that seemed like it was out of a dream, a structure supported on pillars that looked as thought they stretched to the bowls of the planet. With her was Aerith, who was knelt on the ground.

A noise caught her attention and she saw Cloud walk towards her, he then stopped and shook his head several times as well as bending over placing his hands on his knees. He then drew his sword and walked towards Aerith and raised the blade above his head looking as if he were about to strike the woman down

_"Cloud!" _

_"Stop!"_ Ttwo voices cried out and the blond swordsman blade stopped inches away from the Aerith's head. Cloud shook his head as if he'd been released from some sort of trance and backed away

_"Urgh…what are you making me do?"_ he gasped which confused Ino.

Just then Aerith's head rose and her eyes opened revealing her emerald green orbs. She and Cloud stared at one another then from above Sephiroth dropped down, his long sword plunging into the woman's back and sticking out of her chest.

Sephiroth stared at Cloud before removing his sword from Aerith's back the pink ribbon in her hair undoing releasing her cinnamon locks and a small glowing orb that bounced along the floor and over the ledge.

Aerith fell forward and Cloud caught her, holding her body in his arms _"…Aerith. This can't be real!" _

_"Don't worry. Soon that girl will become part of the planets energy."_ Sephiroth told him _"All that remains is to go north. The 'Promise Land' waits for me over the snowy fields. There I will become a new being by uniting with the planet. As will this girl…" _

_"Shut up…"_ Cloud cut his off, he then looked over his shoulder and glared at Sephiroth

_"The cycle of nature and your plan don't mean a thing."_ slowly his head turned back to the body in his arms

_"Aerith is gone. Aerith will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry…or get angry…. What about us…what are we supposed to do? What about my pain? My fingers are tingerling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning!"_

Tears rolled down his face as he spoke and he buried his head in the woman's chest

Sephiroth stared at him _"What are you saying? Are you saying you have feelings too?"_

Cloud stood up and glared at the man _"Of course! What do you think I am?"_

Sephiroth began laughing manically _"Stop acting as if you were sad, there's no need to act as though you were angry either."_

The silver haired man rose into the air _"Because, Cloud. You are…"_

He never finished that sentence as he then took off into the air and out of sight.

* * *

(Crisis Core)

Standing on a cliff amongst surrounding wasteland, a large city in the background a fair distance away. Lying on the ground was man with black hair in a similar style to Clouds.

It began raining as a younger Cloud emerged from behind some rocks and began crawling over to the fallen man.

_"Zack."_ She heard him say

_"On my behalf…"_ the man identified as Zack said

_"Your behalf?" _

_"That's right. You will…" _

_"You will…" _

_"Continue living. You are proof that I existed. My dreams and pride, I give it all to you." _

_"I am proof that you existed?"_

Zack handed a large sword to Cloud, as he did the life in his eyes faded and he passed away. Cloud looked into Zack's faded eyes, the magnitude of what has happened dawning on him. He then let out a cry _"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"_

The sound of Zack's voice then echoed about Ino realizing that Cloud was remembering something

_"Hold on to your dreams! If you want to become a hero you have to hold on to your dreams."_

Cloud then rose up and began walking away, he then turned and looked at the body of his fallen friend _"Thank you. I won't forget. Good night. Zack."_

Gripping the handle of the sword tightly he walked off towards a large city.

It then dawned on Ino that the sword Cloud was dragging behind him was the same sword she'd seen him drive into the ground earlier it was then she realized that this was also the same cliff and what that sword now stood for, it was a grave marker.

* * *

The next thing Ino knew a jolt of pain ran up her arm which knocked her off balance which severed her connection and she found herself back in the large room.

_'His memories…there was just so much…pain.'_ She thought breathing heavily and sweat pouring from her brow.

Getting to her feet she began walking towards the opening that would take her to the next set of tunnels her thoughts were still on the images she'd just seen, the mixture of both love and death that seemed to go hand in hand with one another.

She was about to enter the opening when she walked into something solid

_'Damn it.'_ reaching forward her hand indeed was pressed against something solid _'Some sort of barrier!'_

In her line of work she come across these, often a barrier in a persons mind signified that some portion of their memory was blocked off either by artificial means such as an amnesia jutsu or they were suffering from memory loss. And there was always the possibility that these blocks were put in places by the person themselves because maybe due to some trauma there were things they didn't want to remember.

_'I wonder who put this barrier here? And for what reason?'_ Running her hand over it Ino came across a change in the barriers surface

_'A crack! Could have Itachi done this?'_ tracing the crack with her finger Ino began to feel something, similar to what she felt when she put her hand in the pool yet at the same time it felt different.

* * *

Once again she was pulled into the world of memory however this one was different, instead of some foreign city or landscape or battlefield she found herself in the familiar street of Konoha if front of Ichiraku to be parses _'Why am I here of all places?'_

Just then the sound of giggling caught her ear and looking round saw herself as a child and leading her by the hand was…Naruto

_"Alright, were here Ino-hime."_ The blond fox boy grinned, Ino saw her younger self look at the stand with uncertainty in her eyes

_"Um, are you sure it's alright to be here Naruto-chan?"_

_"Don't worry Ino-hime, __Teuchi-jisan and Ayeme-neechan are really awesome."_

Ino watched as the two children ducked under the flap before entering herself and each pulled up a stool at the bar to sit at

_"Well, well if it ain't our favorite customer."_ Teuchi greeted the pair

_"Hi Teuchi-jisan, Ayeme-neechan."_ Naruto cried out cheerfully

_"Hi Naruto-chan."_ Ayeme said poking her head out from the back, just then her eyes fell upon Ino _"And I see you've brought someone with you."_

_"This is my friend, Ino-hime."_ Naruto beamed proudly whilst Ino blushed.

Teuchi laughed and ruffled the young boy's hair seconds before Ayeme ran out from the back and embraced both him and the young girl

_"That's wonderful news, Naruto-chan. I'm really happy for you."_

_"Yeah, tell you what kid in light of this occasion both your meals are on the house."_ Teuchi announced.

Watching this, the elder Ino couldn't help but shed a tear at the sight, this was the day before her friendship with Naruto would be nipped in the bud. _'But why am I seeing this, how could Cloud possibly have knowledge of this? Unless…my memories are bleeding over into his.'_

Using all her will Ino managed to wrench her hand away from the barrier _'I have to get out of here. My memories bleeding over into his is a very dangerous sign. If I don't get out now I might get trapped here.'_

Quickly forming ram seal she gathered up her chakra and yelled "KAI!"

* * *

"Ino, Ino."

Reentering to her body, Ino was greeted by the sound of someone calling her name. Blinking a few times she saw Shikamaru and Temari looking down on her

"Ino, what did you see?" Shikamaru asked as he and Temari helped Ino to sit up

"We need to get back to Konoha." Ino said "There's too much damage and my skills aren't advanced enough to deal with this, I'd say only Sakura or Lady Tsunade are skilled enough to treat this."

Just then the sound of heavy breathing caught their attention and looking round the pair saw Gaara standing there leaning against the doorway for support

"Very…well, we'll set…out tomorrow. That will…give me enough…time to restore…my chakra." He said between heavy breaths

"Gaara, what are you doing? You should be resting." Temari said, her tone mixed between scolded the younger man and concern for him.

"I'm fine." Her brother replied stubbornly "Ino, I suggest you gather up whatever supplies you need and rest up. We head out early."

"I better go as well." Shikamaru spoke up "Despite how troublesome it is, I'm Konha's representative to Suna. This was on my watch. Besides I have to hand over my annual report to Kakashi-sama."

Gaara nodded "Very well." He turned to his sister "Temari, you're in charge until my return. And send word to Kankuro, tell him to get his worthless butt back here."

The room was silent, it looked like Temari wanted to argue with her brother however she realized that any argument she had would be useless Gaara had made up his mind and there was no way to change it.

"Come on, there's nothing more we can do here." Shikamaru said.

Silently everyone agreed and began filing their way out, Ino shooting a quick glance back at the unmoving form lying on the hospital bed before exiting.

* * *

It was early evening in Konoha, it was a warm evening the sun had only just set behind the Hokage monument and the stars were just coming out.

Shizune was standing outside the academy waiting for her mystery man to show up, she was dressed in a garment that resembled her usual attire however it ended just below her knee and you could tell she'd touched up her makeup. Unbeknown to her two figures hidden on the balcony above were watching her.

"See anyone yet?" Sakura asked

"Shhh, not so loud." Tsunade hissed "No, nothing yet."

The two of them became silent "I wonder who it is?" Sakura wondered "Iruka-sensei maybe."

"Nah, I've heard he's been seeing that chick from the ramen stand." Tsunade replied

"Ayeme, makes sense I guess." Sakura said off handily "What about Yamato-sensei?"

"That smart-ass. Not to mention he's 15 years younger then she is." The blond retorted

"Yeah, stupid idea. Maybe Kakashi-sensei." Sakura suggested

"Uh uh, he's still way to hung up on 'making up for the mistakes of his past'." Suddenly a sly grin appeared on Tsunade's face Plus I've heard rumors that he and Kurenai have been spending a lot of time together after hours and that Anko visited him on a few occasions."

"No way." Sakura in astonishment at her former mentor's smirk.

Soon the two of them were back to trying to figure out the mystery of Shizune's mystery man

"What about… Hiashi Hyuuga." Sakura suggested, Tsunade threw a confused look at her "What? He could be considered attractive in a stoic samurai kinda way."

The pinkette chewed her lip going through the list of possible men "Ok, what about…Ebisu."

The two glanced at each other "Nah."

The two waited for another ten minutes and still there was no sign of anyone

"Poor Shizune-san, I hope she isn't too dishearted." Sakura said sympathetically

"Come on, there's nothing we can do here. Plus you have a shift to cover back at the hospital." Tsunade said getting to her feet. She two were about to leave when a mini tornado appeared

"ROMANTIC DYNAMIC ENTRY!!" an oh so familiar yell filled the air and a green blur emerged from the swirling vortex and before Shizune bent on one knee with a bouquet out stretched dressed in a green dress robe was…Gai.

"Hey there Shizu-chan, hope I didn't keep you waiting too long?" the bowl haired loon asked flashing her his trademark grin offering her the flowers

"Oh not at all Gai-kun." Shizune replied blushing slightly as she accepted the flowers, next thing she knew Gai had swept her off her feet

"Then lets not waste anymore time, the night is young and you make my flames of youth are burning more brightly then ever."

The two of them shared a short but passionate kiss before vanishing in a swirl of leaves, leaving Tsunade and Sakura standing there staring in utter disbelief.

* * *

Cloud's eyes opened finding himself in a place that was alien but at the same time oddly familiar to him.

He appeared to be lying on the ground staring up at a large cage with a small paper tag with the word 'seal' written upon it, the inside of which appeared to be completely empty _'Where…where am I?'_

Just then a large pair of red eyes and mouth filled with large sharp looking teeth appeared seemingly out of nowhere and a loud thunderous voice echoed about the chamber

"**So, after all this time you've finally come back.**"

* * *

AN And finally chapter 4 is ready, hope this was worth waiting for. Before I get any further I'd just like to say a big thanks to Razzle Jazzle, who writes the really exellent story Naruto: Rebirth of A Ninja, for allowing me to use his Raiton: Raikyuutai Rendan Lightning Orb Barrage jutsu. If you read this thank you and hope you'll be posting you latest chapter soon.  
I know you didn't get the long drawn out fight that we had with Kisame but somehow I don't feel that's long fights are Itachi's style. Anyway hope you enjoyed this, I tried to balance this one out with all the fighting and Ino seeing Cloud's memories so I hope the whole ShizunexGai thing counter that whole thing plus I thought the whoe 'Romantic Dynamic Entry' was funny plus something you wouldn't see coming. Anyway send your comments and I'll see you all next time.


	7. Chapter 5

AN  
"Blah"- Normal speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
"Blah"- Memories, dreams  
"BLAH"- Jutsu  
**"Blah"**- Demon, Summon

* * *

_Naruto_  
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 5

Night had fallen on the village of Konoha. Hinata was seated in the Hyuuga's private library when she felt the presence of a familiar chakra, looking over her shoulder she saw someone standing beside a large cabinet that contained various scrolls: her father and the head of the Hyuuga clan, Hiashi Hyuuga. At first glance no one probably would have thought much of the man, his long dark hair was beginning to grey and his face was adorned by several wrinkles, anyone not familiar with the Hyuuga clan many would have believed the man blind due to his milky coloured eyes. However, despite the signs of age Hiashi was still a formidable shinobi, he was said to be unbeatable with not only his mastery of the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist style of Taijutsu but also his mastery of their Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan. Quickly the possible heiress rose from her seat and gave the man a respectful bow

"Otou-san", Hiashi merely gave her a nod.

"Hinata, what brings you here?"

"Nothing really Otou-san, I'm just drawing up a training schedule for my students and needed a quiet place to work." His daughter replied.

Hinata never did have what you might call a normal relationship with her father, from the way they acted around one another you would guess they were master and subordinate. However, in the years since Naruto's banishment things between the two had changed somewhat. Hiashi was no longer as cold and distant towards her as he had been, and with this brought Hinata a newfound confidence. Now that he no longer regarded her with utter contempt she began training for the day she would succeed him as Clan head. Only one test remained and she was determined to succeed: lead a squad of Genin and train them to become Chuunin.

"Tell me, how is your team faring?" Hiashi asked, although not showing it he was interested in what his daughters answer would be. One of the most vital parts of being Clan head was to make decisions that would ultimately benefit the clan; this would often meant making the decisions that were the most difficult despite how unpopular it would make you look.

Hinata blinked a few times before answering "Quite well, however there are still areas that will require work. Ti-lee is natural when it comes to Genjutsu; however her chakra reserves are still limited. Ichigo is most skilled at Taijutsu; however his Ninjutsu still leaves room for improvement. And finally Suki still needs practise using her clans Kekkei Genkai."

"I see." Hiashi said firmly "Tell me; in all honesty do you believe they will be ready to participate in the upcoming Chuunin exams?"

"In all honesty, no. Despite their time together they still find it a challenge to function as a group. They can work together but they do so grudgingly. Particularly Suki, who is still trying to accomplish everything without her team-mates assistance, I fear that if I were to enter them now they would not survive the Forest of Death. I will instead train them for the exam that will take place later this year and if I feel they are still not ready I will hold them back till the year after that."

Hiashi turned and began walking away "I see, if that is your decision." Although his voice portrayed no sign of if he was pleased with his daughter's choice.

* * *

Cloud stared up at the large face that was behind the bars, a cold sweat rolling down his face. He had encountered many powerful creatures during his adventures but the one locked away before him was one of the most powerful beings he'd ever encountered, surpassing Bahamut and rivalling the Knights of the Round. He took a step back and a flash of light appeared, the darkness surrounding him began vanishing transforming into maybe hundreds of white birds which flew off. The dark chamber was gone and in its place was a wide open space, the ground covered by countless numbers of flowers.

"**Well it seems you have finally done something about the interior in here, good I was sick of being stuck in a dank smelly sewer.**" The creature was now visible, despite the odd number of tails there was no mistaking what creature it was: a fox. "**15 years, that's how many years I spent yelling at you, trying to get your attention. Its also the same amount of time you've spent ignoring me, and if there's one thing I hate more then being stuck in here its being ignored.**" The creature snarled. Cloud stared at the creature, again he was getting a strange feeling of familiarity but as to why he had no idea, could he really know this creature?

"What the hell are you?"

The fox's eyes narrowed** "I don't believe it, even with your swish cheese like memory I can't believe you forgot about me despite all we've been through together.**" The fox groaned "**I've been with you your entire life. I'm the one whose been keeping you alive as your death would be a great inconvenience to me. I'm the one who gave you strength when you needed it or did you think you defeated Sephiroth** **by yourself? Please your not anywhere near his level of skill or power.**"

"What are you talking about?" Cloud demanded

"**Guess I shouldn't be surprised, you always were totally clueless. You can't even remember you own name.**" The fox then smirked

"What the hell are you saying?" Cloud yelled getting quite aggressive now. There was a pause which was broken when the fox let out a chuckle

"**I know, why tell you when I can get a total kick out of watching your reactions by showing you. It will be way more fun.**"

* * *

Cloud's angry look disappeared and was replaced by one of confusion. Before he could say anything the field of flowers melted away and the blond found himself standing on the key side of a port town. The docks were filled with ships, their crews either loading up supplies or unloading goods that would be shipped to other towns to be sold. On the jetty of one ship was line of people who no doubt waiting to board it. At the front of the queue were two rather beefy looking sailors who were going through peoples belongings and asking for boarding cards and papers before allowing them to board and the ones who weren't were brushed aside, one an old man was pushed into the ocean. Just then the person at the front of the crowd caught Clouds attention, a kid who looked to be no older then 13 with rather dirty and dull looking blond hair wearing a rather shabby looking orange jumpsuit that was covered in rips and tears

_"Boarding card and papers, please."_ one of the sailors said. The boy reached into his jacket and pulled out a small piece of card and handed it to the man.

_"I said 'boarding card and papers' brat, now fork um over."_ The sailor grunted _"I ain't got any papers."_ The kid replied _"Sorry kid, no papers no getting on board."_ The sailor replied _"Unless you can persuade me otherwise."_

The boy stared at the man, and then he reached back into his jacket and pulled out a rather fat looking wallet that was shaped like a frog _"Then how about for all the money in this wallet."_ The sailor looked at him suspiciously before unzipping it, his eyes went wide in surprise but quickly composed himself and slipped the wallet into a pouch on his belt.

_"Everything seems in order."_ He then took out a piece of paper attached to a clips and a pen and handed them to the kid _"Please sign this clause, it's a standard release form protecting us from any legal ramifications should any accidents occur whilst at sea. What's your name kid?"_ the boy stared at him but didn't say anything _"Well, what is it?"_The boy glanced upwards for a few seconds, for a brief moment Cloud saw an image of a much younger version of the guy with the pineapple hairdo, Shikamaru he believed his name was.

_"Cloud, my name is Cloud."_ The kid blurted out.

_"Alright, get aboard before I change my mind."_ The sailor grunted, he then allowed the kid to pass him and walk up the ramp and board the ship.

* * *

Just then the image before him melted away and Cloud found himself back in the strange chamber. "What was that?" he asked

"**Geez you're dense, anyone would think with all the crazy shit you've been through you'd have at least developed a little more sense...but no.**" The voice grunted in annoyance "**You don't even recognize your own memories when you see it.**"

These words struck a chord with Cloud "My...memories?"

"**Don't believe me, well how about another trip down the path of forgotten memory lane.**"

* * *

It was just after dawn and Ino and Shikamaru found themselves at the city's main gates, the two of them having wheeled Clouds bike with them before Shikamaru had sealed it as well as Cloud's sword into one of his scrolls so he wouldn't have to lug them all the way back to the village.

The sound of approaching footsteps caught their attention and looking around they saw Gaara and Temari as well as their former sensei, now Gaara's advisor, Baki approaching. Behind them were two med nins who were carrying a stretcher that the still unconscious body of Cloud lay upon

"Your here, good", Gaara said plainly, he then turned to his former teacher "Baki-sensei, I'm leaving Temari in charge until I get back. I expect you to give her the same support you did me."

The elder man nodded "I will. Good luck Kazekage-sama."

Temari had gone up to Shikamaru and handed him a leather bag "Here, I packed you some extra supplies for the journey, "y'know, just in case."

Shikamaru accepted it a slung it over his shoulder "Thanks."

Over to one side Ino watched the interaction between her former team-mate and the sand kunoichi, yes Shikamaru was now completely beyond her reach. Just then the two medics placed Cloud down in front of here. Swallowing her disappointment she then knelt down and began checking the blond.

"How's he doing?"

"Physically he's fine, we treated all his injuries. However he still shows no sign of waking up." One of the medics informed her.

"Guess it was wishful thinking that he would wake up on his own." Ino sighed. She then grabbed the blond man's arm and pulled him upright slinging his arm over her shoulder and tried to support him as best she could. Just then she felt a pair of eyes watching her and looking around found Gaara staring at her

"You're worried about him, aren't you? Don't worry, I had Baki send a message to your Hokage last night, he knows of our situation and that were on our way." Before Ino could say anything the gates of the city opened signalling that it was time to go and the small party headed through it.

Baki, Temari and the medics stopping just outside whilst Gaara, Ino and Shikamaru kept walking until they cleared the canyon that served as the primary defence of Sunagakure. Gaara formed a hand sign and began moulding chakra "SABAKU FUYUU! Desert Sand Floating!"

Just then the sand beneath the three ninja's feet began to rise up from the ground in a cloud shaped clump. Soon the party were hovering across the desert floor headed towards the border that separated their two countries.

* * *

Cloud found himself in a dimly lit place; people were gathered together in small groups. His eyes scanning the area he saw an elderly lady, who looked to be in her fifties, humming a tune. Sitting in front of her was a person with their head bent over a metal basin filled with water and a towel draped over their neck and the old lady rinsing their hair with water.

_"Ok, where almost done now."_ She told the person, she then scooped some more water and poured it onto his hair. She then grabbed another towel and draped it onto his head and began rubbing. After a minute or so she was done and removed the towel revealing the person to be the same blond kid from the docks, his eyes and face dull and lifeless. The old lady then took out an old fashioned razor and a comb and began running them through the young man's hair and began shaping and styling it until he was left with a short version of Clouds hairstyle. _"There you go, don't feel a lot better now."_ The old lady said kindly _"You're quite the handsome young man."_ She then planted a small kiss on his cheek. The kid ran his hand through his hair; he then turned and looked at her a small smile on his face

_"Thanks...Baa-chan."_ Next came a montage of the kid and the old woman, all the while life returning to his face as the barriers he'd built began to come down. Currently the two of them were leaning against the rail of the ship looking out at the ocean _"Y'know Cloud-kun, you don't need to spend all your time with me. You should go and mingle with people your own age."_ The lady was saying.

"_I don't mind, I like spending to time with you Nadeshiko-san."_ The kid replied. _"That's sweet, but you don't have to worry about me. A young man of your age should be off chasing girls."_Nadeshiko said, a small smile on her face.

The young Cloud's expression darkened, his gaze on the waves becoming harder _"I'm not really into girls."_ He replied trying to give an air of indifference.

_"I see."_Nadeshiko replied. The two stood in silence for sometime.

_"So...any plans for when we reach the east?"_ Cloud asked breaking the silence _"Hmm not really. I just want to find a nice quiet place to live out my remaining days."_ Nadeshiko said offhandedly _"I did hear some of the sailors talk about a place that sounded quite nice, I might go there."_

_"Where's that?"_ Cloud asked.

_"It was a town nestled in the mountains; they said it was called Nibelheim."_ Nadeshiko replied.

_"Nibelheim, sounds nice,"_ said Cloud. Cloud watched as time passed, watched as his supposed younger self and the old lady grew closer to one another, it was almost like a grandparent and their favoured grandchild. Then it came, he watched as the ship was struck by a violent storm, many died, some fell overboard and were swept away to their end in the sea's dark depths whilst others were crushed by parts of the ship that had either come loose...the old lady was among them. He watched as his younger self held onto her, his tears falling upon her lifeless body.

Time then skipped forward again and Cloud found the ship docked in a busy looking harbour although this one looked to be much more advanced than the one the ship had taken its passengers aboard. The gang plank was lowered and the surviving passengers were disembarking, just then the image of his younger self caught his eye, and the kid was in pretty rough shape. His hair was longer, it now resembled a messier version of his own, his skin was pale, and from the way his now even shabbier clothes seemed to just hang off him he was now quite thin.

It looked as if he had just given up on taking proper care of himself, but what struck him were the kid's eyes. They seemed to be devoid of any life what so ever, it seemed that he had retreated even further into himself then he had when he first boarded the ship, could the death of that old lady really affected him in such a way that he completely closed himself off?

* * *

Ino Shikamaru and Gaara were seated round a small fire that they had made, all of them staring at the flames not saying anything. The trio were camped close to the borders of Fire Country, Gaara's jutsu getting them there a lot quicker than it would have taken by foot, it was debatable where or not they could have made it over the border before settling down for the night however Gaara's jutsu required a lot of chakra use to maintain and was in no condition to carry on until he'd rested.

The air of quiet carried on and soon both Gaara and Shikamaru were sleeping, the red haired Kage form chakra depletion and Shikamaru...from being Shikamaru.

Ino was on watch, however her attention was torn between what she was supposed to be doing and the body of Cloud that was lying not too far from her.

Ever since she had entered his mind and seen his memories it had made her curious about the man that was lying on the ground, just what was it that made him who he was? She was tempted to go back inside his mind however she knew that would be selfish of her; she's already violated his privacy enough by going in the first time.

Ino had to admit she had really grown up, in her Genin days she wouldn't have hesitated of going inside his mind to have a poke about but she was different now.

If she had to guess the day she had decided to grow up was the day Sasuke defected for the second time, she realised that Sasuke would never love her or anyone else for that matter not even himself. He had fallen into a dark place letting his hatred consume him, what use did he have for something such as love, he had no need for it as it held no way to increase his already seemingly limitless power. Sighing Ino tried to focus on her given task but found it rather difficult.

"You alright?"

Ino jumped when she heard a voice and looking over her shoulder saw Gaara sitting up and staring at the now dying fire

"Kazekage-sama what are you doing up, you should be resting." The blond Yamanaka told the red haired man

"I'm fine; I'll have recovered my chakra by morning so you needn't worry." Gaara told her. The two of them fell silent "You still haven't answered my question." Gaara said in his usual tone.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ino replied, although she didn't sound very convincing.

"Well that's good." Gaara said simply. He then lay on his back and began looking up at the stars.

"It's not like I'm worried about the state he's in." Ino said in a stubborn tone.

"I never said you did." Garra replied. The two were once again silent "If it bothers you so much why don't you just go talk to him about it?" Garra said, the silence finally getting to him.

"Wha...what are you talking about?" Ino asked.

"Your teammate's relationship with my sister. Like I said if it bothers you talk to him about it instead of sitting around moping about it." Gaara told her. He then closed his eyes and soon drifted off back to sleep leaving Ino alone to ponder his words.

Sighing she looked back over at Cloud "I bet you don't have to worry about these kind of things, you probably have to fend off the girls with a pointy stick." She paused a moment "I thought so. Oh well. Why is it that all the guys I like always leave me either for another girl or for power? I mean I'm not totally hideous, I've got a good career and friends and I have a normal sized forehead dammit."

Letting out another sigh she stared at the fire which was close to burning itself out. "Y'know I didn't get the chance to thank you for saving me back in Suna." Ino said to the unconscious swordsman "Maybe once we get back to Konoha and your fully recovered the two of us could go somewhere and I can thank you properly. Get to know one another a little better." Ino let out a giggle "You are a good looking guy, and I could do worse than at least one date with the guy who's saved the world twice. Yeah I'll do it, it's a date."

* * *

Unbeknown to the blond Yamanaka, in the field Kyuubi was aware of what was going on in the outside world and had heard her every word.

"**Well isn't that touching, if I could I'd throw up."**Kyuubi sneered.

"What are you talking about now?" Cloud asked.

**"Oh, nothing."**Kyuubi replied **"Oh, here's a good one."**

* * *

Cloud was about to say something when his head began throbbing again and he found himself in a stretch of grassland in an area surrounded by mountains. It was then he saw a person walking towards him who was instantly recognizable as his younger self, his hair now longer however the shabby orange jump suit had been replaced by a simple pair of jeans and t-shirt with a beige jacket thrown over the top, which were in pretty poor condition. The young Cloud took several more steps before collapsing, time crept by and soon the skies above turned red as the sun began to sink behind the mountain. Then a figure appeared beside the fallen boy.

_"Hey are you alright?"_ Cloud heard the figure say in a tone feminine, although he couldn't place it the voice sounded familiar. Just then he heard a groan from his younger self _"Hey, its ok. Everything's gonna be alright now."_ He heard the girl say, he then watched as she scooped up one of his arms and placed it over her shoulder and managed to lift him off the ground. "Just hang on I'm gonna get you some help." She told him. Cloud's eyes widened in shock, now seeing her face he couldn't believe he didn't recognise her despite her being younger there was no doubt who it was.

_"Where are we going?"_ Young Cloud asked his voice groggy _"Not far, my home's in the town just over the horizon."_ She replied.

_"Wha... what town?"_

"_Nibelheim._" She told him. The two of them were silent for several minutes _"What's your name?"_ young Cloud asked.

The girl smiled _"My names Tifa, Tifa Lockheart. What about you?"_

_"Cloud."_

The scene vanished and Cloud found himself back in the field of flowers "Tifa... that is how we met?"

**"All coming back to you is it?"**Kyuubi said **"I gotta say though, for a human germ that Tifa girl was one fine piece of ass. Can't even begin to fathom as to why you let that one slip away."** Cloud glared at the beast.

"I couldn't be what she needed me to be. She was my best friend for as long as I

can remember, and in my own way, I _do_love her, but I couldn't love her in the way she needed me to. I tried. Believe me, I tried, and I wish I could have, but..."Cloud stopped and composed himself "Tifa deserved to be with someone better, someone who could give her his heart without regret and without the burdens of the past weighing heavy on him. Vincent can give her those things, I can't."

**"Yeah, whatever."** The fox demon said offhandedly. **"Why don't we go back further, after all it might be fun for you to see how pathetic you were when you were a kit."**

* * *

Cloud was about to enquire what the beast was talking about when the scenery around him changed again and he found himself standing in a sea of people dressed in smart looking robes, so a formal even maybe. What was striking was that all these people all posed those pale eyes that he's seen Hinata and Neji had, so he guessed that this was their clan. Walking through the crowd he came across a small group that contained two men who looked similar to one another, the one on the left wore white robe whilst his counterpart wore black, as well as two children, a girl and a boy both of whom appeared to be around the same age.

_"Well, today is lady Hinata's third birthday. Congratulations, she's a beautiful young girl, lord Hiashi."_ One of the men said to the other.

_"Thank you, Hizashi-san."_ Replied the other. Cloud then noticed that the young boy giving the girl a small smile which caused her grip the man next to her, no doubt her father, robe but did return the boy's gesture with one of her own.

_"Otou-san, doesn't lady Hinata look nice?"_ the boy said to his father who didn't say anything but had a sad look on his face

_"Huh, Otou-san is something wrong?"_ the boy asked, confused by his father's silence.

_"Oh, it's nothing."_ His father replied.

_"Hizashi it is time."_The man identified as Hiashi said, his voice carrying a commanding tone to it .

_"I will oversee Neji from now on."_

_"I understand."_The other man said, sounding regretful. Just then a man appeared from out of thin air next to Hiashi, from the way he talked and was dressed Cloud guessed he was something he was some kind of guard.

_"Lord Hiashi, there's a situation. We just caught an intruder in the kitchens."_ He whispered in Hiashi's ear _"Do you want us to take care of this?"_

_"No bring this intruder here, I'll deal with this."_Hiashi replied. A moment later another guard appeared, a small boy with blond hair held tightly in his grip.

_"Hey, let me go. Where you taking me?"_the kid yelled as he struggled to free himself from the guard's grip. The guard then released the kid and pushed him towards Hiashi who regarded him with a cold look.

_"Brat, show some respect and bow before lord Hiashi."_The guard growled before kicking the child to the ground and pinned him in place with his foot. Both children as well as Hiashi looked to be quite shocked over the way that the blond haired child's treatment, Hiashi however seemed completely unfazed by it.

_"Tell me boy, why have broken into my home, and also why thought you could get away with it?"_ the clan head said, his voice both stern and commanding.

_"What can I say, you've got crappy security."_The kid replied. The guard responded to this by raising his foot and slamming it back down on to the boys back causing him to grunt in pain.

_"I'll ask you again, why did you think you could steal from the most powerful clan in this village?"_said Hiashi.

_"Look I'm sorry ok."_ The boy said, pain colouring his voice _"I...I was thrown out of the orphanage and been living on the streets, the last time I ate was two days ago. I was hungry and I smelled the food coming from here, I figured you wouldn't miss a few things so I snuck in."_The group was silent, now one made any attempt to say anything or even move.

_"Tell me boy, are you in pain?"_Hiashi asked breaking the silence _"Does your life cause you suffering?"_ the child looked up at the man, his face twisted into a look of confusion mixed with fear. _"If you could, would you like for your suffering to stop?"_ _"Lord Hiashi,"_ Hizashi said _"I..."_Hiashi glanced at his brother, shooting him a cold look silencing any protest. He returned his gaze back at the boy, he then reached into his robes and took out a kunai and threw it at the boy missing his cheek by few centimetres.

_"Release him."_Hiashi ordered and the guard took his foot off the boys back _"I offer you a chance to end your suffering. Take that knife and use it to end your own life."_The boy stared at the weapon for a few moments before gingerly reaching for it and pulled it out of the ground. He looked up at Hiashi before taking the weapon and vanished into the crowd of people running as quickly as his legs could carry him. The scenery then changed and Cloud found himself in a backstreet, just then the sound of crying caught his attention and following the sound he entered a back alley and found the blond kid with tears streaming down his face and sitting in a pool of blood. His arms were covered with slash marks and was pressing the blade to his throat. Cloud watched in horror as the child before him slit open his own throat and blood seeped from it, just then a jolt of pain ran up his arms and looking at them was horrified to find wounds on his arms and blood seeping from them. Cloud felt himself grow woozy and the world around him began to spin before it grew dark and he finally fell to the ground.

* * *

When Cloud opened his eyes again he found himself back in the endless field of flowers before the fox's cage, instantly he sat up and checked his arm and thankfully he could find no trace of any blood or a wound.

**"Did you enjoy that; I must say it is one of my personal favourites despite how much of my power I had to use to keep you from bleeding to death."** Cloud got to his feet and stared into the creatures face.

"That kid that was me wasn't it?"

**"Congratulations, we have a winner. You win a plushie toy."** The creature sneered.

"What's your problem?" Cloud demanded "What's the point of showing me all this anyway?"

**"Oh no reason, I just like seeing your reaction."** The fox replied. **"Oh Wait here's another, I believe this is the first time you met that pink haired bitch, the one you were so fucking in love with."**Cloud was about to inquire what the fox was talking about when the scenery around him began changing again.

* * *

Cloud found himself in a grassy field, a public park maybe, looking around he saw young children running around playing with their friends and a few with their parents. It was then he saw a young boy with blond hair and three lines on each of his cheeks wearing a black t-shirt with a red swirl on it and blue denim shorts sitting on the ground watching the other children, if what the giant fox said was true then this was him when he was a child. Cloud stared at the young child curious as to why he wasn't off playing with the other children; however his curiosity was put on hold when the kid looked up and Cloud heard the sound of crying but looking around saw no one who appeared to be in distress.

The young Cloud got up and ran off into a clump of bushes, Cloud followed the boy and found him staring at a young girl with bubblegum pink hair which was tied back with a red ribbon wearing a red sleeveless shirt with a circle symbol on the chest well as some khaki shorts, what stood out about the girl was that she had a larger than normal forehead. Beside her was a woman who wearing a buttercup yellow sundress and also had pink hair however was a darker shade then the small girl so Cloud assumed the woman was the girl's mother. The girl was crying between her sobs Cloud was able to make out that the girl had lost something.

Suddenly young Cloud dashed off and Cloud watched as searched what seemed to be the whole park until he came across a white rabbit plushie being kicked about by group of boys.

_"Hey you guys, knock it off."_ The kid yelled at the group.

_"Well lookie what we got here."_ One of them said a small sneer on his face. _"What do you want kid?"_ another asked, clearly not liking being interrupted during his fun.

_"I've come for that."_Young Cloud said pointing at the rabbit plushie _"There's a little girl who's crying her eyes out who really wants it back."_

_"Is that so, well I guess we could give it back."_The first boy said picking the toy off the ground, then from behind his back pulled out a kunai _"We'll give it back to her in little pieces."_ Just then another member of the group put his hand on his supposed leader's shoulder.

_"Hold on, don't you know who that is?"_ he said, a touch of fear in his voice _"That's the demon kid, my dad told me he killed an entire squad of Jonin in one second flat."_ Hearing this most of the group backed however a few, their leader included, stood their ground.

_"The demon kid huh, well guess if we were to take him out then maybe we'd get a big reward."_He and his group of two other boys advanced on Cloud and jumped on him, although outnumbered young Cloud was able to hold his own against his attackers however he didn't come out of it totally unscathed. The fight ended when Cloud disarmed the leader of his kunai and stabbed him in the leg with it, the other gang members quickly grabbed their leader and they then turned tail and ran.

Once they were gone a battered bruised and bleeding Cloud picked himself off the ground and retrieved the plushie toy and began limping off, miraculously his wounds healing as he walked. Soon enough he made it back to the place where the girl had been and looking around found her sitting under a tree with her knees hugged to her chest; still crying. Slowly young Cloud walked over to her.

_"Uh hey…a-are you…okay?"_ he asked. The girl shot her teary eyes up at the boy who had called her and immediately lifted her hands to her forehead.

_"No, go away!"_ she cried _"Don't look at me (sniff)... please..."_ the blond kid tilted his head in confusion.

_"What's wrong? Does your head hurt or something?"_ he asked, he then reached forward to place his hand on her forehead like he'd seen some parents do their kids to see if they were sick. The girl let out a distressed whimper, before she edged further back ageist the tree, which proved rather useless, as Cloud simply followed though and placed his hand upon the pink haired girl's. _"Why are you crying?"_ Cloud asked. He tried to remove her hands from her forehead to see what was wrong but all she did was clamp her hands down harder.

_"Don't look... My forehead is hideous... Kaa-san (sniff) said that they wouldn't laugh at me... She (sniff)... she promised... but they... they..."_ the girl sniffed. After several minutes her arms weakened and eventually her arms were lowered. She averted eye-contact with Cloud and started heaving hiccups through her sadness. Cloud ran his hand over the pink haired girl's forehead; brushing aside a few loose strands of hair to fully expose it.

_"Wow, your forehead is so big... why would anyone laugh at it?"_ Cloud said, as he brushed his thumb over the area of the girl's forehead. Hearing these words, a fresh stream of tears began to fall down the girls face. _"You shouldn't hide the very thing that make you different from the others. Your forehead is the best thing about you,"_ Cloud told her, a bright smile spread across his face, _"It's cute; it means you're really smart."_ The girl's expression changed from upset to a mixture of relief as well as confusion. To her utter surprise the young boy leaned forward and pressed his lips against the centre of her forehead, the girls eyes widened when she felt it. The simple show of affection lasted for half a minute before Cloud pulled back and smiled at her. _"What's your name?"_ he asked.

_"S...Sakura."_ the girl replied.

_"Well then you should never hide the very thing that makes you... you, Sakura-chan!"_ Cloud told her, he then offered her one of his hands .

_"My names ... ."_Sakura stared up at him before rubbing her eyes and smiled back at him

_"Nice to meet you ...-kun..."_ she then took his hand and he pulled up.

_"Oh yeah, I almost forgot."_Cloud then handed the plussie toy _"This is yours right?"_ The girl squealed and grabbed the toy and pressed it against her chest.

_"Usage-chan, arigato."_ _"Sakura-chan!"_a voice was heard and Sakura began running back towards the path.

"_Kaa-san!"_ both Clouds looked round and saw the young child run towards the elder pink haired woman they had seen earlier _"Kaa-san, Usage-chan is back."_The girl told her mother "...-kun brought him back for me." The mothers eyes widened at her daughters words, looking up she noticed the young Cloud walking towards her and Sakura.

_"Uh, hello Ma'am."_ The young boy said nervously. The woman narrowed her eyes at him.

_"Come on Sakura-chan, it's time to go."_ She then walked over to the blond boy and leaned down and whispered in his ear _"Come near my daughter again, I will kill you. You got that you monster?"_ not waiting for a response she straightened up and took her daughters hand, the two of them then walked off leaving Cloud who started after them till they disappeared from sight.

* * *

The scene vanished and Cloud was back in the flower field before the cage.

"Why are you showing me all this, what's the point of it all?" he demanded. **"You're still not getting it," **The creature said in annoyed tone.

"**Alright then. How about we visit something more recent." **

* * *

His surroundings changed once more and Cloud found himself in the a large room lit by strip lights, he instantly recognized it as being one of the rooms in the facility where Shin-Ra had used to test recruits, in the centre of the room he saw a group of looked to be 15 or so young men, each one of them armed with a baton, in a circle and in the centre of it was himself. One man on the left charged forward swinging his baton at Cloud who blocked it with his own; he then grabbed the man's writs and slammed his knee into the man's gut. Another from behind lunged at Cloud who grabbed the first man and threw his at the new attacker.

From the sidelines Cloud watched as the men attacked his younger self he knew exactly what was going on, it was an exercise know as the bullring. Simply one person stood in the centre of a circle of his fellow recruits and would have to fend them all off for as long as he could, it was used as a method of 'toughening a person up' if their instructors thought if one of their students wasn't doing well enough. The exercise went on for what seemed like several minutes before a tall muscular man grabbed his younger self from behind and wrapped his arms around his chest and neck, the others took this as a sign and rushed towards them and began pounding away at the blond for ten minutes straight before the instructor told them to cease.

The tall guy let go of Cloud and her dropped to the ground and the crowd around him dissipated. Cloud managed to get to his knees, panting heavily he looked up and saw a black haired boy with dark eyes standing before him, he was staring down at Cloud with a superior smirk spread across his face he then began to speak his voice carrying a taunting tone.

_"You think this will change anything just give up, no matter what you do you will never be able to come close to me. You will always be a loser."_

* * *

The scene vanished and Cloud found himself back in front of the cage.

**"You see even after you left that shit stain of a village you still felt the need to prove yourself to everyone. You still couldn't get over wanting to prove yourself to the Uchiha brat." **The fox said its tone both mocking and sadistic. Cloud stared at the ground, the images he had seen going through his mind. His head began to throb as more images flashed through his mind, sounds of pain filled his ears which seemed to echo about the area. The cry's of pain and the sound of peoples anger and fear grew louder and louder till it grew almost unbearable. With what seemed like a great effort he managed to turn his gaze up at the cage.

"Why are you doing this? What the hell are you?"

**"Even after that you still don't know, geez your pathetic."** The beast said, any pleasure it had been getting was gone and had been replaced by annoyance **"You already know who I am and who you are, stop whining and think you blond ape."** Cloud tried to concentrate on the creature's words but the pain was too great. And then in that instant he had his answer when an image of a man with silver hair flashed before his eyes and his cruel words filling his ear.

"Yes...I know, I know who you are." He fell to his knees and his world began to darken but not before saying 7 words before blacking out. "You're Kyuubi, the nine tailed fox demon."

* * *

Back in the real world Ino, Shikamaru and Gaara had crossed the border into fire country and making their way towards Konoha with all haste. They were currently making their way through a dense forest, leaping from tree branch to tree in a bid to make it through as quickly as possible. Just then Shikamaru, who was leading the group, came to a dead stop.

"What is it?" Gaara asked as he landed on a branch just above the pineapple haired Naara whilst Ino landed on one just below. Shikamaru said nothing; he channelled chakra into his ears and began scanning the area. It was then he caught the sound of something impacting with wood.

"There's something out there." He told his companions.

"Ninja?" Gaara asked to which Shikamaru nodded "Think their hostile?"

"No way to know." Shikamaru replied. The three of them stood deadly still, trying to make any sudden movements or make any unnecessary sounds. Just then a howling was heard and from the three line appeared a large white monster of a dog followed by 2 men wearing standard ANBU gear, one was wearing a dog mask the other a mantis. Another rustle was heard and another group being led by a familiar face.

"Hinata." Ino cried out happy to see her friend, indeed it was the Hyuuga heiress along with her team.

"Hello Ino, we go here as quickly as we could." She replied. The ANBU in the mantis mask motioned to everyone to which they nodded before jumping off their respective branches and landed on the ground below.

"Lord Kazekage, Lord Hokage has dispatched us to escort you back to Konoha." Mantis said, his voice not hinting at any sign of emotion.

"Shino, knock it off." His partner said before removing his mask revealing himself to be Kiba.

"Can't you be professional for once?" Shino replied before removing his own mask.

"Anyway, the moment Lord Hokage finished the message you sent he dispatched us. Normally this kind of mission is considered C-rank however due to circumstances he was insistent that I bring Kiba-kun and Shino-san along as well." Hinata informed Shikamaru and co.

"So, Team 8 reunited." Ino said a playful smile on her face. Hinata nodded then turned her attention to Shikamaru.

"Hello Shikamaru, it's been a while since the last time you came back to Konoha."

"Yeah well my role as Konoha's representative keeps me pretty busy, its way to troublesome." Shikamaru replied. "So what's with the kids?"

"Oh yeah I forgot to tell you, Hinata's one of the instructors form their year's academy graduates." Ino told him. Hinata nodded.

"This is my team, Ti-lee Ishida, Suki Zinanae and Ichigo Yuki." She said pointing to the girl with long brown hair tied up in a pony tail who trying to make conversation with the raven haired girl and being blatantly ignored and the red haired boy with the scar running across his right cheek who was leaning against a tree.

"Not to break up the reunion but I believe its best we keep moving," Gaara said bluntly "Whilst on missions ninja don't have the luxury to stop and smell the roses." "He's right; we need to get Cloud to Lady Tsunade as quickly as possible." Shikamaru said agreeing with the red haired Kage. Kiba took Cloud, who Gaara had been carrying, and placed him on Akamaru's back and once he's secured him with some wires they were off once more bounding from tree to tree. On the way back the elder members of the group made conversation (excluding Gaara and Shino) whilst Ti-Lee tried to get Suki's attention by talking about various subjects whilst the raven haired girl did her best to ignore her (Ino: please tell me I was never that bad). Shikamaru looked over at Ichigo, who was behind him, and noticed the bored expression on his face.

"How do you put up with those two?"

"To be honest I have no idea." The boy replied "To be honest I'd rather be at home and watch some clouds, maybe play some Shoji or Go. Being a ninja is way too troublesome." Shikamaru chuckled.

"I like you kid."

It had been two days since the battle between Cloud and Itachi and it was still the hot topic around Suna, one of the cities shinobi was walking through a back alley in one of the cities rougher areas and came across a rather run down looking house. Walking up to the door he knocked on it three time then twice then three times again, after a few seconds it opened revealing a woman with red hair wearing glasses

"Good you're finally here. Sasuke-kun doesn't like to be kept waiting." She said strictly.

"Let's just get this over with, I don't want to have to be around any of you longer then I have to." The ninja replied as he slipped inside.

If the place looked run down on the outside then the inside could only be described as downright crappy, the place had no electricity and had to be lit by candles and no real furniture to speak of just a collection of moth eaten mats as well as a few wooden creates that served as an alternative.

Seated on one of these mats was a guy with long grey hair with a large sword before him, and seated opposite was another man with spiky blond hair. However it was the third member of the male trio that was the most striking. Sitting on one of these creates was a man with dark black hair, his face bore a dark looking mark that surrounded his left eye which was squinted (AN: think Zuko from Avatar), a battle wound that could not be healed (or rather that old bat refused to heal it). "You're late." Sasuke said sharply.

"Please, I'm not one of your little lackeys, this might come as surprise to you but not everyone worships the Uchiha clan. To be honest your brother did the world a favour when he wiped out your whole degenerate group of freaks off the face of the earth." the shinobi spat.

There was a moment of tension; Suigetsu and Juugo were quickly to their feet to show the man the error of his ways.

"Hold." Sasuke said firmly and the two of them returned to their streets. Sasuke rose to his feet and walked over to the man till they were face to face "I don't care if you like me or not, but no one speaks ill of my clan." He said, his voice carrying a dangerous tone. "Now tell me what I want to know and I might just let you leave relatively unscathed." Sasuke then returned to his seat.

"Fine, I want to get out of here as soon as possible. If my superiors were to find out that I was meeting with you they'd charge me with treason." The man said "I'm surprised you need to get this information from me, I mean the whole town is buzzing about it." He then proceeded to tell him about how Itachi and Kisame had practically strolled into the village. The fight between Kisame and Gaara, the summoning of the two giant dragons and finally Kisame's death.

"So Gaara killed Kisame, whatever. I could care less about that fish faced freak." Sasuke snorted.

"No not Kazekage-sama, this guy with spiky blond hair, blue eyes and a massive sword." The ninja said, this got Sasuke's attention "Man you should have seen it, he summoned this dragon which totally obliterated the Kazekage and Kisame's combined dragon in one shot. He then went on to fight Itachi; now that was a fight people will be talking about for a long time, even caught a bit of it myself. Those two, I mean sure Itachi toyed with him to begin with but I gotta say I don't know if I've ever met two people that were so evenly matched."

Sasuke didn't want to believe what he was hearing; it was not possible that someone other than himself was his brother's equal. Sasuke boiled with rage as the man continued talking; leaning of how Itachi had only defeated this blond swordsman with Tsukuyomi but from sounds of it his brother had only used it because it sounded like he had no other choice. Letting out a snarl the Uchiha and Shun shined from sight.

"Well, I guess he took that as well as can be expected." Juugo said.

"Whatever, just give me my money. I wanna get out of here." The nin said.

Karin let out an annoyed grunt, she took out a small scroll and bit her thumb from which emerged a small bag which she tossed it to him "There take your money and get lost. And if you tell anyone that we're here, then you better start watching your back." Not needing to be told twice the nin was quickly out the door.

In an area away from Suna, Sasuke was releasing his frustrations devastating the landscape with his Chidori Nagashi not giving a flying fuck if anyone heard him "Damn you Itachi, I curse your name. You should have no equal...no one other than me." He then let out a very loud scream that filled the night air.

Memories of the battle at the Valley of the End seeped to the forefront of his memory, his curse seal at level 2 and Chidori sparking away in his hand. Across from him was Naruto, his right arm broken his hair untamed, the whisker marks on his face darker, his canine teeth were visible and his eyes were blood red, surrounding the blond was a veil of orange/red chakra which had taken on the form of a fox complete with tail, and in his left hand was red Rasangan.

The two of them then launched themselves at one another, their attacks outstretched in front of them and collided head on unleashing a shockwave of light and sound and at is heart was the two of them. In that instant something changed, he could tell that something had caused Naruto to hold back, what it was he didn't know and to be frank he didn't care. That moment of hesitation was all that he needed. He then plunged his hand into Naruto's chest seemingly ending the battle.

The two of them then fell and landed on the water's surface, Sasuke's arm being all that was keeping Naruto from sinking beneath its surface. Sasuke then retracted his arm and his former team-mate sank beneath the water, he had done it, he had completed the necessary task needed to gain one of his clan's strongest techniques...so why didn't he feel a sense of accomplishment? Instead he felt totally disgusted with himself; he had become nothing more than his brother's pawn. Just then the water beneath him began to churn and from below Naruto emerged from the water, the chakra cloak had vanished and his features were slowly slipping back to their normal state and in his hand was a Rasangan the size of a ping pong ball. The blonds' hand shot forward slamming the small spinning orb into Sasuke's face, the force threw the Uchiha backwards smashing his head on the canyon wall and rendered him unconscious.

Sasuke snarled at the memory, what really bothered him was that although he would never have admitted it too anyone he was certain that Naruto could have killed him back then. Had he not held back on that final attack he probably wouldn't be here instead of just having this damn mark on his face. Sasuke charged up another Chidori Nagashi and used it to assault a large stack of rock that was sticking out of the ground reducing it to rubble. It was clear what he needed to do now, hunt down this guy and see just how powerful he was, after all if he may have some special techniques that he could copy with his Sharingan, but until then his search for Itachi would have to be put on hold for a while. Panting heavily Sasuke dropped to his knees his hand twitching from the lighting chakra he'd been channelling

"Itachi, you will have no equal...no one other than me."

* * *

AN And finally chapter 5 in fini. First a big thanks to Jokerisdaking for beta reading this chapter, however before I do anything else he sent me a comment and I think I should answer it  
**_This is my single problem with this update. In your story you have made no mention of them being aware of METEOR. So we don't know if they know about that. For sure they don't know about the details of geo stigma because you yourself illustrated their ignorance of that subject during some back story earlier in your story. They just knew of the disease and the mysterious rain that cured it. All you've established that Konoha knows is that Cloud bested Sephiroth. _**_**They may know he saved the world once but if they do you need to establish their knowledge of METEOR.  
**_In responce I really hadn't thought about it, you see it as that they were aware that Cloud & Avalanche averted a great calamity however they are unaware of the details since they were live on the other side of the planet and didn't see METEOR fall.

Anyway Hope you liked this chapter, sorry if you expecting to see Cloud getting treated at the end but I didn't want that to happen just yet, I promise that will happen in the next chapter though. I felt that it would be best to use this chapter to tell a little back story via seeing small pieces of Cloud/Naruto's past.

If any of you are curious about the flashback with the Hyuuga, it was inspired by an idea I had for a story that in which after the Kyuubi attack Naruto is adopted into the Hyuuga clan by Hiashi and given to his brother Hizashi to raise as Hizashi is one of the few people in the village that chooses to honour the Yondaime's final request. I came up with this idea a while ago however I doubt I'll ever get round to writting it, however it sounds interesting to anyone feel up to adopting it from me let me know PM your e-main and I'll write up some notes.

I know some of you are still curious if there will be pairings in this, I'm still not decided yet. If I were to pick someone right this moment it would be Ino, but like I said I'm still undecided as I said in an earlier chapter Sakura will play a role in this story, the outcome of which may or may not see her paired with Cloud/Naruto in the end.

Anyway that's me done, I'll try and get started on chapter 6 soon but university starts again soon. Anyway review and tell me what you think, its your comments that motivates me to keep writing. So till next time, peace out yo.


	8. A moment of pause

Ok this is not a new chapter, however I thought I would take a moment to get a few things off my chest. This is not directed at anyone nor am I trying to offend anyone, this is just a collection on my thoughts and opinions. If anyone is offended by any part of this the its your own problem.

* * *

First concerns Sasuke. I'm sure there are those of you out there who are asking 'Sasuke is a well rounded and developed character, why have you gone and made him so completely 2 Dimensional?' Well the answer is very simple: because he is a 2 Dimensional character.

He has no character development what so ever, actually that's not true. He goes from the start as an asshole to being even more of an asshole.

Seriously he has to be one of the most short sighted people ever; he has no long term goals. At first his goal was to kill his brother, congratulations he's done it but once that was over he had nothing else to live for until he learned of how Konoha's village elders had a hand in the almost complete destruction of the group of thieves murders and whores he called his clan, so now he's all set to kill them and everyone else in the village. Not only that he's now allied himself with the biggest traitor of them all, Madara Uchiha, and now the little shit is willing to helping him in his plot to destroy Konoha.

There is a story on the site entitled Medicinal Lullaby by a writer called Shivakashi (read it, it's a good one) and in one chapter there is a scene between Sasuke and Danzo and in that scene it sums Sasuke up perfectly.

Neither Danzo nor Sasuke understood what that sentence meant, but they were sure they would find out soon enough.

Not trusting himself to be in the same room as the true murderer of his family, Sasuke made to leave as well, only to be halted by his name.

"Sasuke, I understand how difficult it must be to work alongside of me—"

"I'm not," Sasuke whirled around but stayed within the threshold of the doorframe, "You are working with Pein. I am simply using you as a stepping stone to get Naruto out of the way so that I can crush Konoha. I don't give a damn about whatever Pein promised you, I will raze Konoha to the ground regardless of who the Hokage is at the time. If it is you, then all the better."

"Oh Sasuke, you don't really want to do that. Your hatred is for me and my colleagues, not Konoha."

"Believe me, I do," Sasuke assured him, "One of my reasons for attacking Konoha is standing right in front of me. In fact, I may simply destroy Konoha just to spite you; we'll see how you take to having everything you care about taken from you in a single night."

Danzo allowed a grim smile to befall his lips, "So vindictive. Madara was right...you still don't understand."

Fed up with the old coot, Sasuke turned to leave again.

"What will you do once you kill me and the others?"

Sasuke stopped.

"What will you do after Konoha is gone?" Danzo continued his barb, "You clearly can't live without a hit list of some sort. You are, after all, an avenger.

Sasuke turned to face him once more, his expression unreadable. Smirking, Danzo persisted.

"Who would you label as your next target once you've killed off your current list? Let's not kid ourselves here; being a father isn't your strong suit, sitting around raising kids could never keep you satisfied. With or without knowing it, you have fallen into the same pattern that got your family killed in the first place. The desires of the demon who granted you that eye are manifesting. Greed, bloodlust, power..."

Sasuke opened his mouth to dispute the assumption that his motivations were demonic in nature but Danzo was quick to continue talking.

"As harsh as it was, Itachi's "motivation" to inspire you to thrive has made you the strongest you can possibly be. Don't let anyone tell you any differently. If you really want to keep the cycle going, you could always kill Naruto in front of his daughter. Test how strong her will to avenge is..."

Sasuke was walking away now, not wanting to hear another word from the silver tongue of that decrepit old bastard. His second dream was to restart his clan, it always had been and he did nothing to keep it a secret. It was something he felt he couldn't start until he killed everyone that was a threat to it. But what if Danzo was right? Would he continue to find a threat wherever he turned, simply because he was looking for one? Would he always be hunting for blood? And whenever he thought of restarting his clan it was simply increasing its number, not being a father per say. He had no intention of bonding with children; he just wanted the sharingan to flourish once again.

No matter. If Naruto already had his legacy in the making then far be it from him to hold back on his. He could never let Naruto beat him in anything.

Now...where was Karin?

* * *

Before moving on let me ask you all a question, name for any other me a manga/anime series aimed at teenagers to young adults where the main character is NOT an emo kid.

In manga/anime there are 2 different arch types. There is the Naruto type and then there's the Sasuke type.

The Sasuke type is the brooding loner out for revenge against the people who wronged him whilst the Naruto type is the more comedic type, he'll get the job done but will also provide comic relief.

If anyone other than Kishimoto had written this they would have focused the whole story on Sasuke and I very much doubt that the series would be half as successful as it is. 99.9 % of manga/anime in the genre that Naruto falls into focus on the Sasuke type whilst the Naruto type is either pushed into the background or is the side kick used to balance out the hero's emoness. Sasuke is a character we've seen dozens of times before and when you think about he's a boring character, I'd say that once he's fulfilled his objective he's no longer interesting but let's face it he was never interesting to begin with.

The Naruto series is unique because the story is focus on the guy who is usually either the comic relief or emo guy's sidekick.

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Ok second point, I have received several comments where readers have bad mouthed Sakura, this is my response to those comments: fuck you.

NarutoxSakura is my favourite Naruto pairing, has been since the start. The others for Naruto is NarutoxIno, NarutoxTenten & NarutoxTemari.

Something I find amazing is that people complain about how annoying Sakura is however their willing to over look that Hinata just as annoying as her, that fucking stutter she has is not cute.

Like Sasuke Hinata is another character in the manga that has no development, she is the same now as she was back at the beginning. As stated above I do like other Naruto pairings however in a lot of them the writer portrays Sakura in a negative way however there's no good reason for it, she's a bitch just for the sake of being a bitch and ignore all the development of her character as well as her close relationship with Naruto.

Another thing that really pisses me off is when a writer starts a story off with Naruto and Sakura happily together/married or about to be married then suddenly Sasuke shows up from out of the blue and Sakura throws all her maturity and character growth out the window dumps Naruto just to be with the guy who has never said or done anything nice for her. A key example is a story I can't remember the title of where Sakura not only divorces Naruto and leaves him but she also dumps him with the child the two of them conceived.

Before we move on I would like to go slightly off topic for the moment there is a story on this site which I highly recommend you all read entitled A Soul's Salvation and is without a doubt one of the best stories on this site. Before you all ask yes it is about Sakura however even if you don't like her I still strongly urge you all to go and read it, if you like a stories with really fleshed out plots and good character development I highly recommend you read it.

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The third part is my feelings towards the NarutoxHinata pairing, I could go off on a rant on why I don't like the NarutoxHinata pairing however I will say this, if Kishimoto had it end up with Nauto dating Hinata in the manga I would not have been happy but, if he'd given them a decent build up and as well as a pay off that was believable which would of required the two of them to spend time a significant amount of time with one another outside of missions which would build a solid foundation for a relationship, I would not be happy but would have accepted it. But now if from out of his ass throws out all the character and relationship building between Naruto and Sakura and has Naruto start dating Hinata despite them the lack of them having kind of intimate relationship I'm gonna be pissed as it will be a carbon copy of the shitty ending of Avatar (I'm not even touching Anng having the ability to take away Ozai's bending powers, far as I'm concerned Sokka summed it perfectly).

Just because Hinata finally confessed her love for Naruto all the NaruHinatards are up in arms proclaiming that now Naruto and Hinata are going to walking down the aisle. News flash people just because Hinata professed her love for Naruto doesn't mean they're going to get together. Plus If you look at it logically you realise Naruto can't marry Hinata.

Naruto belongs to no noble clan, also it is never stated anywhere that Minato came from one either making him the only person in history of Konoha to make Kage who is not of noble blood which makes him all the more impressive.

Also there is no Uzumaki clan in Konoha, as far as we know the Uzumaki clan may have been a major in Uzu no Kuni however that village no longer exists and Kushina it seems was the only survivor. Hinata on the other hand is practically a princess. And for this reason Hiashi would never allow either of his daughters to marry Naruto as he would want her to be married to someone from a major clan either from Konoha or one of its allies. This part can also be applied to why Sasuke-prick will never marry Sakura.

Plus let me remind everyone that until the Chuunin exam Naruto never gave a crap about Hinata and that wasn't until she was beaten nearly to death by Neji. Just because Hinata has feelings for Naruto doesn't mean he has any for her and the problem with the majority of NaruHina stories that they have to force Naruto to have romantic feelings for a character who he has none for.

A word of advice to all wannabe writers: if you're going to kill off a character kill them off, don't have them linger keeping the readers going through the whole 'are they aren't they' crap then just have them recover.

Ok everyone pop quiz time after being stabbed how many chapters did we have to endure before finding out that Hinata was fine? Answer: seven, seven goddamn chapters. Question two when Pein killed Jiraya how many chapters did it take Jiraya to die? Answer: one.

Let me repeat that it took Jiraya, one of the sennin toad sage seal master and self proclaimed super pervert, 1 chapter to die but Hinata, who is many times weaker then the white haired master ninja, can linger 7 chapters before Sakura healed her completely. Now this shows us two different things, one is good whilst the other isn't.

It demonstrates how good a medic Sakura has become so all her hates can shut the hell up about her being useless.

However the fact that Hinata is alive cheapens whole thing that has happened to Naruto. He only went from 4 to 8 tails because he thought Pein had killed her as well as his encounter with his father. Having Hinata die would have been the better outcome as it force the audience to rethink their expectations for the continuing story as well as which other popular characters might not make it to the end.

WHAT THE FUCK!!! What the hell is Kishimoto thinking? He wasted seven chapters on a character who overall contributes nothing to the overall story and yet we still don't know the fate of Kakashi. Why couldn't have Sakura spent that time healing him?

Now before you all get on your high horses and criticise me it isn't Hinata's confessing her feelings that's bothering me as we all knew it had to come out at some point.

Also before you send me 1000 comments all saying "Pein was going to kill Naruto and Hinata saved his life" your all stupid as Naruto's life was never in danger, for his plan to work Pein needed Naruto alive long enough for the Akatsuki to extract Kyuubi and they can't exactly do that if he's dead as its been drummed into us that if Naruto dies so does the demon, that's the Shiki Fuujin seal's ultimate fail safe.

Finally before you also comment that if Naruto didn't love Hinata then why did he flip out when he thought she was dead, I won't deny that Hinata is one of Naruto's precious people however saying that you could have put anyone important to the blond ninja doing what Hinata did (maybe not confessing their love for him) and have Pein seemingly kill them it would have had the same effect. Plus if it had been any character other then Hinata they would be dead.

Seriously the only positive thing that can come from this now is if it forces Sakura to finally come to terms with her own feelings for Naruto. If any romantic relationship were to develop between Naruto and Hinata at this late stage it would just feel hollow and forced.

Another thing I came across was a girl on You Tube called MelinaPendulum, an aspiring writer a big anime fan and hates Twilight check her out. Anyway in one of her video's she talked about relationships and how they need to be treated like a partnership with both sides treating the other as their equal. Sakura is Naruto's equal, Hinata is not. For a relationship to work one side cannot be allowed to dominate the other, the reports you hear about domestic abuse occurred because one side was allowed the other to dominate them.

Hinata would allow Natruto to dominate her and let him to do whatever he wanted and before you give me a bunch of crap about how Hinata is kind and loving that's the problem. Sakura can be that as well however she is also not afraid to stand up to Naruto and put him back in his place when need be, also Sakura is fully aware that Naruto is both stronger and a lot more powerful than she is and could slaughter her and everyone else in the leaf village but she won't allow herself to be intimidated by him and before you all hurl comments at me about how she hits him just because she hits him doesn't mean she doesn't care about him, there are times when he does deserve it.

Bottom line people: a pair of large tits and a lack of any kind of personality is not a foundation for a solid relationship.

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And to all you NaruxSaku fans do not despair, just because Hinata confessed her feelings doesn't mean anything will come from it. Just because this happened does not mean it's the death of the NaruSaku pairing, it's still the most likely pairing to happen

And whilst were on the subject of dead pairings why are people still writing SasukexSakura stories or Sasukexanyone stories for that matter. People face it Sasuke is not going to come back willingly to Konoha let alone profess his love for the cherry blossom konoichi, she's part of Konoha which means as far as he's concerned she has to die. Plus for Sasuke to actually be in a relationship with anyone he needs to crawl out of his own ass and give a shit about someone other than himself.

I was going through my manga collection I came across this passage in Yugioh Duelist 23, it features Yugi and Kiba during the Battle City arc, to me this is another thing that sums up Sasuke.

Yugi: Heh…

Kiba: I'm surprised even you can laugh now.

Yugi: Kiba…you are one of the very few I recognise as a duelist but I'm a bit disappointed in you.

Kiba: What?

Yugi: Let me put it bluntly. Hatred, anger. No matter how much of these things you have, those aren't enough to beat me.

Kiba: Excuse me?

Yugi: Your mind is like this duel tower standing tall in the rubble. You can pile hatred on top of hatred to reach the top, but you'll never find true victory. You'll only wander forever seeking the next thing to hate…the next target…

Sound familiar, it's pretty certain that Sasuke will never be able to make peace in his life, he had lived his life based purely on his hatred however if you take away the subject of his hate then he has no other reason to go on unless he finds another target. I know this is going to sound kinda corny but Sasuke can only feel hatred and thus push people away because he doesn't know how to love. The point that Yugi was trying to make to Kiba is that hatred in a dead end and there is no true victory that comes from it. The best examples of this are after his battle with Naruto at the VoTE and after he finally killed Itachi. Did he feel any sense of victory, any sense of accomplishment? No, he was left with a hollow feeling as he'd almost and succeeded in kill the only 2 people who could love him unconditionally (not meant in a yaoi sense).

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To be honest I'm scared, with Kubo seemingly on a mission to kill Bleach and Kishimoto seemingly trying to do the same with his own property I don't want to think what our anime/manga future will be like. I can only hope and pray the writers for Yugioh 5D's won't do the same.

If this whole thing has given everyone the impression I don't like Hinata that is not the case, whilst I will admit she one of my least favourite characters I Naruto I certainly don't hate her, I can honestly say that in whole world of anime/manga there are only two people I can say I truly hate. Anyway NauHina fans don't get your hopes up by expecting there to be any romance between Naruto & Hinata, I don't think at this point Hinata is expecting there to be a romantic relationship between her and Naruto, and I'm not just saying this to NaruHina fans but to all pairing fans that way you can avoid huge disappointment if it doesn't happen.

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Again I apologize to everyone that this is not a new chapter, but I promise you there is a new one in the works. I've done some work on it but not as much as I would have liked but I hope to finish it and have it up as soon as possible. Please keep supporting my work and sending your comments.

The World will look up and say "Make this story NaruHina" and I'll whisper "No"


	9. Chapter 6

AN  
"Blah"- Nomal speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
_"Blah"_- Dreams/memories  
**"Blah"**-Demon/Inner/Summon  
"BLAH"-Jutsu

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_Naruto_  
Final Fantasy VII:  
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 6

All was quiet and Kotetsu Hagane and Izumon Kamizuki, the pair heralded as the 'Eternal Chuunin' stood watch at the leaf village's main gate.

"Man this is dull." Izumon said letting out a yawn.

"That may be, however it's an important job." Kotetsu replied.

Izumon let out a groan as he went back to watching the horizon. Time seemed to creep past when something on the horizon caught the two men's eye.

"Something's coming this way." Kotetsu told his companion.

"Looks like. I'll check it out." Izumon replied, he then pumped chakra into his eyes allowing him to increase the range of what his eyes could see. In the distance he saw a large group of people heading towards him and instantly recognised them as a pair of ANBU followed by Hinata and her students along with Shikamaru and Ino as well as the red haired leader of the sand village and a large white dog. "It's them." Izumon told Kotetsu who nodded in reply.

"Right, go tell lord Hokage."

Izumon then vanished into thin air, soon enough Shikamaru and the others made it to the gate.

"I see your back." Kotetsu said to them.

"Indeed, Hound and Mantis reporting in." Shino replied.

"Well it just so happens I got a message for you." Kotetsu informed them, "You two along with lady Hinata and her team are to report to the Hokage immediately and to bring the Kazekage with you."

"And what about us?" Ino asked. "You're to head to the hospital, they're expecting you there, then go report in yourselves."

"Right."

Kiba then turned to his canine companion, "You hear that Akamaru, head straight to the hospital. You can go back to enjoying your retirement after that." With that the party went their separate ways. Ino, Shikamaru and Akamaru made a beeline towards the hospital bursting into the reception where they found Sakura and several doctors waiting.

"Ino, you're finally here." The pinkette said to her friend.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Ino replied as Shikamaru cut Cloud free of the wire. Sakura headed over and picked Cloud off Akamaru's back and placed him on a stretcher that was waiting.

"Take him to room 407." She instructed and a pair of doctors carried the unconscious swordsman off. Just then the doors opened again and in came Shizune looking quite dishevelled. "Shizune-sama your here, where's shishou?" Sakura asked.

"I um, I'm afraid that lady Tsunade won't be coming. She's not feeling too good this morning."

Sakura let out a groan, "Oh great. Looks like I'll have to deal with this one myself." She then turned to Ino and Shikamaru, "You two can go now."

"Wait, won't you be needing my help?" Ino asked.

"We'll be fine pig." Sakura replied using her friends nickname, "Now get going, you don't want to keep Kakashi-sensei waiting."

Ino let out a defeated grunt, "Fine but once I'm done I'm coming straight back." the pair of ninja and the dog headed off.

Kakashi was seated in his office, Shino, Kiba and Hinata standing before him. Hinata had dismissed her team and Gaara had been shown to the guest quarters where he could rest up. Shino had just finished filling him in when the door opened and Ino and Shikamaru entered.

"Sorry were late Hokage-sama," Ino apologized, "We made a quick detour to drop Akamaru off at the Inuzuka kennels before heading over here."

"It's not a problem." Kakashi replied, "Shino had just finished informing me about the mission. Now I want the two of you to tell me just what the hell happened in Suna." Both former members of team 10 shifted uncomfortably, the next half hour was spent explaining to their leader about Ino and Cloud's arrival in Suna and their encounter with Itachi and Kisame. How they along with Cloud, Gaara and Temari had fought the two Akatsuki members. How Cloud managed to kill Kisame before going on to face Itachi and how their fight ended when Itachi was forced to use Tsukuyomi to end the battle before retreating.

After they were finished Kakashi remained silent, "I see." He then dismissed them, once they had left he got up and looked out of the window. "I take it you heard all that?" he said, looking round he saw Jiraiya leaning against the wall.

"Every word." The toad sage replied, "It appears that the Akatsuki have resurfaced.

"What do you think?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm not too sure, but one thing I do know is that I don't like it." Jiraiya said gruffly, "The last I heard about them was that they had captured and extracted the Shichibi, they have seven of the nine and as you can imagine this doesn't bode well."

"Agreed, but I can't help but wonder why now." Kakashi said his tone grim, "According to you the eight tails is impossible to get to and Naruto has seemingly dropped off the face of the earth." There was an uneasy silence.

"I will find him" Jiraiya stated.

Kakashi sighed, "Jiraiya it's been fifteen years, if you couldn't find him before what makes you think you will be able to now."

"Don't you think I know that?" Jiraiya spat, "I have to find him damn it, how could I ever pass on and face Minato again knowing I let the one thing he ever left behind disappear into the ether." The white haired man slammed his fist into the wall. "I failed them Kakashi, both Minato and Naruto. I failed Minato by letting my obsession with Orochimaru cloud my judgement instead of fulfilling my obligation as Naruto's godfather by taking care and raising him. And I failed Naruto by not being here when you idiots kicked him out for doing his duty."

Kakashi rounded on the elderly man, "Do not pretend you are the only guilty one here Jiraiya, we are all equally to blame on that account. I was Naruto's teacher; it was my job to prepare him for the dangers and challenges that he would encounter as a shinobi. But instead I focused all my energy on Sasuke despite knowing from the moment I first met him that he was mentally unstable. However I allowed the memory of my friend to cloud my judgment and delude myself that I could steer him off his destructive path and we all know how that turned out." There was another uneasy silence.

"I take it you want me to head out." Jiraiya said, finally breaking the silence.

"Yes, get in contact with your network and find out why the Akatsuki have resurfaced." Kakashi told the hermit.

"Guess I'll be heading out then." And in a blink of any eye Jiraiya was gone.

Alone now, Kakashi let out a sigh, sitting back down at his desk and dipped into more of Tsunade's forgotten sake stash, _'What else can go wrong?'_

* * *

In another part of the shinobi world in the village of Amegakure no sato located in Ame no Kuni a man with orange hair and several metal studs in his face dressed in a black robe with red clouds decorating it was seated in a darkened room. Just then the sound of footsteps was heard however he made no movement even when a woman with blue hair clad in the same robe as him came into view.

"Nagato-sama, I bring news." The woman said to him.

"I have told you before Kohan, never to refer to me by that name." the man said coldly, "Nagato is gone, only Pein remains."

The woman, Kohan, made no reply to this statement instead she presented her flame haired leader with her news, "Itachi Uchiha has returned from Kaze no Kuni, however Kisame Hoshigaki is dead."

"I see," Pein replied, "Did they complete their objective?"

"Hai, they successfully engaged the target but were unable the retrieve him."

Pein dismissed her and where she was a few seconds stood a person in the same robe with a strange orange mask covering his face.

"It wouldn't surprise me if you had heard everything so it saves me the time of finding you and informing you of it Madara-sama." Pein said looking round at the man.

"I see." Madara said, "A shame about Hoshigaki, however he did fulfil his obligation so it's an acceptable lose." Pein stared at the man before him. When they had first met Madara had told him about his plan, how he planned to end war and strife but to do so they would have to find the bijuu and seal their essences into the King of Hell statue, once they' done that they could then manipulate events, start and stop wars, control the flow of money all around the world and soon would find no resistance to their rule. Pein had bought into it immediately, and Madara gladly gave him the means to bring peace to the world. However over the years Pein had become less convinced of his master's grand design, the once grand talks about peace and unifying the shinobi nations were now beginning to sound like the ravings of a madman.

"Are you certain that your assumption is correct, we have spent years searching for the missing Jinchuuriki?"

Madara fixed Pein with a cold stare from behind his mask, "I am certain, the Kyuubi container has indeed returned." _'And once I have him, I can finally drop this charade.'_

* * *

He found himself here again, why did he have to return? Ski looked about him at the destruction, the sights sounds and smells flooding his senses. The fire then engulfed the buildings and the smoke that filled the air, the blood that was splattered everyway and seemed to flow like a river, the bodies that littered the ground like yesterday's trash. He then began running, his legs jumping over bodies and his feet splashing of puddles of blood as he made his way towards his clan's home, hoping against hope that they had been spared only to have it dashed when he saw the door was hanging off its hinges and the bodies of his family on the ground. Running inside he began searching every inch of the house desperately searching for anyone that may have survived. _"Kaa-san, kaa-san."_

Finally he reached the door that led to his parent's living room and inside was something that would be burned into his mind for the rest of his life. Lying on the centre of the room was the body of his mother her naked body baring nasty looking cuts which oozed blood into a puddle underneath her as well as some sort of white substance. He was so shocked at the sight that he almost didn't see a dark haired man standing over her dressed in a white shirt with a red and white fan on the back as well as black slacks who was currently tying a purple rope around his waist. He must have made some kind of noise because the man turned round to face him; his red eyed boring into Ski's soul.

"_Ha, I missed one how careless of me."_ The man said flatly as he slid a sheathed sword into his rope belt. Ski stared back at the man, his whole body feeling numb_._

"_Wh…why, why did you do this? What did we ever do to you?"_ the man merely stared coldly at him,

"_I could tell you it was because your family wronged me, I could tell you it was to prove the Sharigan's superiority. But the real reason is because I could."_ The man then walked past Ski not even glancing at him as he left, _"You slipping past me wasn't part of my plan, but you being alive makes this all the more perfect. Instead of dying you get to live, live knowing that everything that was precious to you was taken away and that you could do nothing but feel helpless."_

Ski stared at the body of his mother, his fists clenched so tight his nails were digging into his skin, _"I'll…kill you…"_ the man stopped at this, _"I'll kill you."_

"_You'll kill me."_ The man scoffed, _"You couldn't even scratch me, even if you leaned every jutsu and trained for a thousand years you could never hope to match me."_ He then began walking again. Ski let out a cry, his hand dipped into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a kunai and charged towards the man who without even turning to face him swatted Ski out of the way. Ski, his breathing heavy and a trail of blood flowing from his mouth, looked up at the dark haired who continued to walk away.

_"Loser."_ That one word resonated within the young Zinanae, a tingling sensation was felt in his left arm which grew into a burning that turned into a feeling of power, more power then he'd ever felt before, power enough to crush this psycho's skull. Blood pumping in his ears and adrenaline through his veins Ski charged towards the man who's killed his family who didn't even seem to react to his approach, then from out of seemingly nowhere a scaly ghostly hand appeared which latched onto the dark haired killers head, raised him into the air and slammed his head against a nearby wall several times and dropped him to the ground. Before he could recover Ski ran over to the fallen ninja and began relentlessly pounding away at his face until he went limp.

"_That was unexpected."_ A voice from behind which caused Ski to cease pummelling the body underneath him, looking down he saw not the man who raped and murdered his mother but his grandfather. The sight caused all the power and rage to vanish from Ski's body and replaced it with a feeling of horror. Slowly glancing over his shoulder Ski saw his mother's killer, his body not even showing any sign of damage. _"So that was your clans __Kekkei Genkai, I must admit it intrigues me. However it doesn't change anything, even with that power you're still a loser.__ I've changed my mind; you can die knowing that you're a loser."_ The man's hand began crackling with electrical energy, _"CHIDORI SENBON! - Thousand Birds Needles!"_ From his hand came what looked like a dozen needle shaped crackling with electrical energy.

Ski's eyes burst open and found himself seated underneath a tree, his breath heavy and sweat rolling down his face. The images of that night passed through that night Ski looked down at his left arm, ever since then he'd tried several times to activate his clans ability again but hadn't been able to.

"Ski, Ski." Hearing his name Ski looked about and saw Lee headed towards him.

"Fuzzy brows-sensei!"

"Ski my ever youthful student, you looked troubled." Ski looked away from him and the bowl haired ninja frowned, "You had that dream again didn't you?"

Ski didn't say anything however Lee could already tell he right on the money. He also couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted with himself, at one time he, like the rest of the village; had been amazed by Sasuke and held him in high regard. At first he hadn't wanted to believe Ski's account of what happened to his family, he didn't want to believe that Sasuke would stoop so low as to massacre innocent people for seemingly no reason but after hearing how they kept haunting Ski's dreams Lee could no longer deny this fact. _'Damn you Sasuke, how many lives must you destroy as you succumb further to your madness.'_

* * *

Back at the hospital Ino had entered the main lobby and asked one of the staff for Sakura's location. Telling her that she was most likely preparing to treat Cloud Ino headed her friend's office that once upon a time had belonged to her mentor, opening the door Ino found the room dark and lit by several candles. Standing in the centre of the room was Sakura who had stripped herself down to her panties, she currently had her eyes closed and had her hands in the ram seal in order to build up her chakra. After staring for a few seconds Ino's eyes went wide in shock as several strange looking seals appeared on the pinkette's body, one on her forehead, one on her stomach, one on each of her arms and legs and one on her back. Sensing the intrusion Sakura looked round and saw Ino standing there.

"Ino…what are you doing here, I thought the door was locked?" Sakura demanded as she tried to cover herself.

"S…Sakura, what are those marks?" Ino asked, shock covering her voice.

"I'll tell, just close the damn door." Sakura told her friend who quickly complied. "Alright if you really must know these are special seals that Jiraiya-sama designed for me, under shishou's supervision of course. They each have a sizable amount of chakra sealed inside of them in case I ever needed to use a technique that requires a large amount of chakra. I guess they're kinda like a cross between shishou's Infuuin seal and the celestial gates that both Gai and Lee use as part of their taijutsu, unlocking each of these seals will grant me a great amount of power however the longer I leave them unsealed the greater the strain I put on my chakra network and unlocking all seven would result in death."

Ino was stunned by this, "If they're that dangerous then why the hell would you want to use them?"

"I'm hoping that I won't ever have to use them, however after reviewing Cloud's condition I don't know if I can fix the damage by myself." Sakura said firmly.

The pair were silent for a minute before Ino spoke up, "Idiot, trying to do everything yourself. Come on put your clothes on, we have work to do."

Sakura looked into her fiends face shocked at her statement, this quickly vanished and a smile spread across her face. "Right." A few minutes later the pair found themselves in Cloud's room, Ino locked the door and drew the blinds whilst Sakura prepared herself.

"Ok, you ready?" Ino asked as Sakura removed her shirt, her seals still visible.

"Almost." Sakura replied, she took out a small dish and set it on the table on Cloud's bedside as well as a kunai. Gripping the blade in her hand she drew some blood and let it fall into the dish, once she felt there was enough she healed her hand and handed the dish to Ino. "When I tell you rub the blood over the seal that will activate it."

Nodding Ino took the dish from the pinkette, "Where should we start?"

"Let's go with the one on my back, hopefully we won't need to release any of the others." Sakura replied. that done she turned to Cloud and placed her hands on his forehead, _'Alright here we go…'_

* * *

Cloud was in a dark place, his whole body emitting a fiery red aura; the memories of what he had seen before falling into unconsciousness still haunted him.

"What is this, what's going on?" A moment before he'd felt something cool and soothing run through him and a second later this red aura appeared. A small speck of light reflecting off something caught Cloud's attention which seemed to be coming closer towards him, _'What is that?'_ The thing got closer until it was inches away from him turning out to be a mirror, it the mirror Cloud could see a canyon with a waterfall and a river running through it.

On one side was a boy wearing white shorts, dark grey skin and hair and what appeared to be a pair of hand like wings, his left hand crackling with black energy. On the other was his young self dressed in an orange jumpsuit surrounded by a red aura, similar to the one that he himself was now surrounded by, in the shape of a fox. His eyes blood red with thin vertical slits for pupils and dark marks on his cheeks giving him a feral look, an orb of swirling energy in his right hand. Cloud watched their battle unfold which ended with the young Cloud ramming an orb of energy the size of a ping pong ball into the dark haired kids face.

"_SASUKE!!!!"_ surprisingly the force of the impact was enough to throw the raven haired kid backwards into the canyon wall and rendered him unconscious. Breathing heavily the young Cloud began walking towards his opponent, he managed to take a few steps onto the shore before he legs gave out and he fell towards the ground. Before he hit the ground a figure appeared and caught young Cloud before he hit the ground. Although the mask threw Cloud for a second he recognized the man as a 15 years younger Kakashi.

"_Kakashi-sensei!"_ young Cloud said in a breathless whisper.

"_Don't worry…, I got you. You did it."_ Kakashi told the young Cloud before he slipped into unconsciousness.

'_That…that was me?'_ Cloud thought, _'But how can I not remember any of this stuff and what are all these images supposed to mean. And how come any time the younger me gets injured how come I feel it?'_

* * *

Back in the outside world Sakura was pouring her chakra into Cloud in order to repair the damage Itachi had done, however despite her efforts it didn't appear as if she was making any progress. "Ok Ino do it, release the first seal."

Although hesitant at first Ino dipped her fingers in the blood and smeared some on the seal on Sakura's back which glowed momentarily before it disappeared, that done Ino then began channelling her own healing chakra into her friend in hope of relieving some of the stress releasing the seal would have on her body.

Feeling the surge of chakra running through her coils, Sakura instantly channelled it into Cloud however after a few minutes it didn't appear to be having any effect. _'Ok, guess there's no other choice.'_ "Ino second seal, the one on my stomach."

Without saying anything Ino scooped up some more blood and smeared it on the seal on Sakura's stomach before focusing on channelling her chakra into the pinkette's body. In moments the seal was released Sakura felt as though her body was aflame, her eyes became blurry her body began to drip with sweat and her hands began to shake.

_'Come on Sakura, focus.'_ She berated herself as she poured the chakra into Cloud. Soon the expression on Clouds face relaxed letting both Sakura and Ino know they had been successful. _'Thank Kami.'_

Cutting off the flow of chakra the two girls felt the strain of the amount of chakra they had just spent, however at least it was spent for a good cause. Knowing that Cloud wouldn't wake up for a while the pair got comfortable and took the opportunity to recover some of their lost chakra.

* * *

Cloud, the fiery aura still around him, found himself in a dimly lit corridor and at the end he could see a doorway which allowed a small amount of light to enter.

"**I cannot let you leave, not yet."** The sound of Kyuubi's told him echoing off the walls.

"Why, why are you doing this to me?" Cloud demanded.

"**There's one last thing you need to see, only after that can I let you go."**

Knowing he had no other choice Cloud along the tunnel and through the door, he found himself in looked to be in some kind of laboratory; at the back of room were two glass tanks each of which contained an identical boy both of whom looked to be no older then thirteen. Both of them had blond hair, markings on their faces and some kind of weird mark on their stomach, Cloud was so shocked he almost missed a plaque that was attached to the base of each of the tubes both of which read project: C.L.O.U.D. Hearing the sound of footsteps Cloud looked round and saw two men enter the room, one of them had grey hair and wore glasses whilst the other had long black hair and pale skin.

"_It would appear that the project is proceeding well Orochimaru-sama."_ The grey haired man commented.

"_Your surprised Kabuto?"_ the pale skinned man replied, he then walked over the tank on the left and placed his palm on the glass, _"Isn't it a thing of beauty Kabuto, an exact duplicate right down to the smallest detail and the first of many. Think of it, isn't it a beautiful irony Kabuto, the foolish boy who would give everything to protect his pathetic home will be the instrument of its destruction."_

The man in the glasses, Kabuto, let out a small chuckle, _"I can't help but wonder what Sasuke's reaction to this will be? After all he might not like the idea of you kidnapping his former friend and using him in your experiments."_

"_No need to worry about little Sasuke's approval, after all he came to me seeking power, so as long as he's getting it I highly doubt he'll care too much about my other projects."_ Orochimaru replied. _"If this proves successful it could open up whole new doors for us Kabuto, no more having hunt down targets and bribing them to work for us. Instead I could create the perfect soldiers, an army bred to bring the elemental nations to their knees."_

"_Provided this works of course."_ Kabuto pointed out.

Orochimaru looked over at his subordinate, _"Do you doubt me Kabuto?" _

"_Of course not Orochimaru-sama,"_ Kabuto replied, _"I'm just pointing out that what you're doing was forbidden by every nation 50 years ago, and even then the results were mixed."_

Orochimaru let out a cruel chuckle and looked back at the tank, _"Well you know the old saying Kabuto, if at first you don't succeed try, try again."_

"**Are we having fun yet?"** the voice of the demon filled the air and his eyes appeared behind Cloud.

"You again, what's the point of all this?" Cloud demanded.

Kyuubi groaned, **"I don't believe it. Even after everything I've just shown you, you still can't figure it out. You really are as dumb as you look."** The two glared at one another, **"OK I guess I'm gonna have to give you a little hint. Think back to the dinner party you crashed."**

Cloud stared at demon in confusion, _'That dinner party, what does that have to do with anything?'_ he then went over everything he heard discussed _"He must have been pretty special to you all, may I ask his name?"_

"_Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki__.__"_

"_I'm sorry; I know what it's like to lose someone you love."_ Cloud's eyes widened, turning his head he looked into the mirror and at his reflection. Looking back at him was himself only his eyes were red with black slits; his hair was wilder and on each of his cheeks was three black lines. _'Does…does this mean…?'_

Kyuubi smirked, **"Oh will you look at the time. Our time is up."**

A gale force wind along with dark clouds emerged from seemingly nowhere that tried to force Cloud backwards whilst he tried to stand his ground, "Wait, I still need answers." His words were lost as Cloud was knocked off his feet and was swept away.

Kyuubi watched as Cloud vanished, **"Oh don't worry, we will see each other again. Even if you don't want to."**

* * *

Cloud groaned as he opened his eyes.

"Cloud."

Hearing his name Cloud looked round and saw Ino and Sakura at his side, _'Wha…where am I?'_ he tried to sit up but the two konouichi pushed him back down.

"Don't try to sit up, you still haven't recovered yet." Sakura told him.

Ino then picked up a glass that was on a small table beside and filled it with water. "Here drink this." Lifting his head she poured the cool liquid into Clouds mouth quenching a thirst he didn't know he had.

"Where am I?" Cloud asked.

"Your back in Konoha, you're in the hospital." Sakura explained, "Ino and Shikamaru brought you back from Suna." She then gave him a quick looking over, "You'll need another week or so before you've recovered completely." She then grabbed Ino's arm and dragged her out of the room, "You get some rest and one of the nurses will come and check on you later."

The pair left leaving Cloud with his thoughts; however all he could think about were the recent developments. A couple of hours later one of the nurses entered the room in order to check up on the blond swordsman only to discover the room to be empty.

* * *

Cloud stood on the roof of the hospital looking out at the view that spread out before him. Seated on the rail not too far from him was a guy with dark hair and pale skin who was busily sketching away in a book. The blond swordsman had encountered the pale skinned man, who he learned was named Sai, about an hour ago.

Cloud had been standing on the roof for a few minuets when he began to feel he was being watched and looking round he found the dark haired man seated on top of the doorway that led to back down into the main building. _"Who are you?"_ he had asked, _"Are you spying on me?"_

The man shook his head, _"I'm only here for the view, much like you."_ The man then slipped off the frame and walked over to the rail and took out his sketch book as well as a pot of ink and an old fashioned nib pen and began sketching away.

From time to time Cloud would peer over and take a look at what the man was doing and saw he was sketching the view that spread out in front of him. _"That's pretty good."_ Cloud commented.

"_Thank you spiky head."_ The raven haired man replied.

"_What did you call me?"_ Cloud asked.

"Do you not like it? I read in a book having nicknames for someone is a term of endearment." The dark haired man replied.

"_Well for one nicknames aren't usually a very good idea, because the one you give them to might not like it or take offence to it. And two, you don't know me so giving me a nickname is kinda moot."_ Cloud pointed out.

The dark haired man pondered a moment, _"I suppose your right. We haven't formally been introduced to one another."_ He turned to look at Cloud with a rather creepy smile, _"My name is Sai."_

"_Uh hi, I'm Cloud."_ Cloud replied.

"_Yeah I know, the whole village is talking about you. That you're the saviour of the entire world and as well the Fourth Hokage resurrected,"_ Sai told him.

Cloud stared at the pale ninja, _"Really? I didn't think my appearance would cause that much of a fuss?"_

The two of them continued talking on and off, Cloud couldn't explain why but he felt somewhat at ease around this man. Maybe it was because he hadn't reacted the same way everyone else had upon meeting him, not being bugged for autographs or having people wanting to talk about his fight with Sephiroth was refreshing. For once he could simply be himself and not have to feel uncomfortable.

* * *

"WANT DO YOU MEAN HE'S GONE!!!" a shrill voice cried out.

"I assume the hag has noticed your missing." Sai spoke up.

"Hag?" Cloud looked at him confused.

"I mean Sakura-san," Sai replied.

"Why do you call her a hag? She doesn't look to bad to me," Cloud asked.

"If that's your preference." Sai said in a matter-o-factly way. Cloud was about to push this further when his vision started to blur and he began to feel woozy. Just when he thought he was about to collapse he felt Sai step in to support him, "I believe it's time to get you back to your room, we better go before the hag finds us. She may not look it but beneath her exterior beats the heart of a demon with major PMS."

The two men headed back towards the stairwell, It took a few minutes but Sai was able to support Cloud as they headed back to his room. "Aha, there you are."

They had almost made it back to Clouds room when a voice was heard and looking over his shoulder Sai saw a very annoyed Sakura headed towards him. Before he could say anything Sai found himself connecting with the wall at the opposite end of the corridor whilst Sakura stood there holding up Cloud with one arm and the fist of her opposite arm shaking.

"Geez hag, you didn't have to hit me that hard." Sai said whilst rubbing the spot the rosette had hit him.

"What do you think you are doing, this man has suffered incredible trauma and needs to rest." Sakura glared at the former ROOT ninja.

"Hey don't punish him; I was the one out of bed he was just helping me get back to my room." Cloud told her.

She then glared at him which killed any other protest he may have had. "I suggest you keep your mouth shut, what are you doing out of bed? You're supposed to be resting, you're going back to your room and you're going to get back into bed and stay there."

"Yes ma'am." Cloud replied, a bead of sweat rolling down his face, _'Maybe that guy Sai has a point.'_ Sakura escorted Cloud back to his room where she checked him over quickly before making sure he got back into bed before leaving.

* * *

Cloud remained in his room for several days, one morning he woke and found Kakashi sitting on the seat by his bedside. "I was wonding when you were going to wake up." The grey haired man told him.

"What do you want?" Cloud asked.

"What no small talk, you're not going to ask me how I am or inquire about my health (which is pretty good by the way)?" Kakashi replied trying to engage Cloud in small talk however the blond was in no mood. Kakashi reached into his robes and took out two envelopes which he threw to Cloud.

Opening it Cloud found it contained lot of Gil notes inside of it whilst the other contained ten times the amount that was in the first."What's this?"

"That's your payment for your delivery of Tentens items as well as completing that delivery mission with Ino." Kakashi explained, "The other is the reward from Kirigakure no sato for taking out Kisame Hoshigaki, as you may be aware he was high ranked criminal and thus had a pretty large price on his head. A special team left Suna not long after Shikamaru and the others to Kiri to deliver his remains back to them as well as his sword." Kakashi then rose from his seat "Well you'd better get up, I believe the doctors are going to discharge you."

Cloud watched as the older man exited the room, after a few minutes he got out of bed and collected his clothes. A few minutes later Cloud had found his way to the lobby and to his surprise he found Tenten seated on one of the benches.

"So your finally up." She said upon him, "Y'know it's not polite to keep a lady waiting."

"Excuse me?" Cloud replied sounding confused.

"Your coming with me, the Hokage and Sakura have given permission for you're to stay with me and Neji whilst you recover instead of here." Tenten explained, "I talked it over with my husband and he has agreed as long as you don't cause any trouble. Come one lets go, your vehicle and weapon are already waiting for you there."

Cloud stared at the bun haired woman, images of the past concerning her flashed before his eyes and although they weren't as bad as others he'd seen it seem to stem from a lack of interaction more than any actual kinship.

"Cloud!" hearing his name Cloud shook his head, "Ok lets go." Exiting the hospital the pair walked through the streets headed towards the Hyuuga compound and Cloud began to feel uneasy again as he felt the eyes of the villagers upon him.

A while later Cloud found himself once more outside the house he'd visited when he first arrived in the village, his Fenrir parked outside. Approaching the house the front door opened and Tentens daughter, Yui, rushed out and attached herself to her mother's knee.

"Kaa-san." She cried out, she then saw Cloud, "Cloud-san." She squealed in delight.

"That's right, Cloud here is going to be staying with us for a few days and I expect you to take very good care of him" Tenten told the girl. "Hai, Kaa-san." Yui said, trying to come off as serious however it came off as comical from such a small child. Tenten giggled, "Alright, your first job is to show Cloud around the house then to escort him to the guest room."

"Hai," the small girl grabbed a hold of Clouds hand and began pulling him along. Watching this Tenten couldn't help but grin in amusement.

* * *

Cloud lay on the bed his head turned towards the window allowing him to look out at the night's sky it had been a few days since he'd left the hospital and come to stay at the Hyuuga compound. He knew it was late, around 2 am he reckoned, however he was still being plagued by his thoughts.

Earlier that night he had been sitting in the Hyuuga's privet onsen allowing the water steaming warmth to seep into his skin soothing his muscles and working out the kinks in his joints. He had been relaxing hoping to forget about his recently regained memories for the time being however sitting about with nothing to means you are at the mercy of your own thoughts.

Just then the sound of voices caught his attention and the door opened revealing Neji and Tenten both of whom were clad in robes and the Hyuuga prodigy was balancing a tray that had a tray and two saucers on it, they were also currently engaged in a round of lip locking so they didn't notice Cloud until it was too late.

_"Cloud!!!"_ Tenten almost shirked but was able to keep her voice down.

_"I'm…I'm sorry, I don't mean to intrude on your privet."_ Cloud replied, _"I'll go."_

_"What are you talking about you were in here first, we're the ones who barged in on you."_ Tenten stated, _"Of course it would help if you'd locked the door."_

A few minutes later all of them were seated in the onsen, Tenten tried to initiating friendly conversation however Cloud was feeling awkward again and Neji was giving off an air of had annoyance and concentrated on his sake. Then just to make things worse the door opened again revealing Hinata and Kiba, both of whom were engaged in a round of lip locking.

_"Doesn't anyone in your village know how to knock?"_ Cloud groaned.

_"Inuzuka what the hell are you doing here?"_ Neji growled, _"Doesn't that flea infested hole that belongs to your clan have facilities of its own?"_

_"What's was that Mr high and mighty Hyuuga prodigy?"_ Kiba snapped.

Whilst they argued Hinata looked embarrassed and Tenten gave a sigh of annoyance, watching them Cloud felt another headache come one due to a wave of new images flooded him mind, imaged of fights against the two males who were present as well as an awkward conversation with the Hyuuga female.

_"You know what, I'm done. You can have your privet time now."_ Seizing a towel Cloud climbed out of the onsen grabbed his clothes and headed back to his room.

_"What's with him?"_ Kiba snorted.

* * *

Back in the present Cloud was still looking out at the moon. It was then in that moment he decided he couldn't take it anymore, these thoughts and memories that continued to plague him and the slightest thing seemed to trigger another.

He had tried to get it out of his mind but it seemed the longer he stayed here the more memories seemed to be triggered and some were so brutal it made him wonder how he even survived to be the age he was now, it seemed if he wanted any peace then there was only one solution: he had to get out of this village.

He quickly gathered his things together and silently crept out of his room and out into the courtyard where his Fenrir was parked. Once he'd past through the gate of the Hyuuga compound that led him out onto the streets, from there he walked through the streets until he was passed the residential area and into the main streets where all the shops and bars/restaurants were.

Cloud climbed upon his bike and kicked started the engine into life and roared along through the streets towards the village gates before passing through them and into the darkness of the pre dawn.

* * *

In an undisclosed location a group of four men sat around a table, the first being an elderly man wearing grand robes that bore the mark of Iwagakure no sato, The second had pale skin yellow eyes and long black hair, the third a silver haired man wearing glasses and the fourth was dressed in Jounin's garbs and bore the symbol of Kusagakure No Sato, lit by candles whilst a fifth dressed in Oto ninja garbs along with a chuunin's flak jacket stood off to the side silently.

"So gentlemen I assume we are all in agreement." One of them said.

"Of course, after all we all share the same goal. Konoha has been a thorn in all our sides for far too long and must be dealt with." Said a second.

He then turned to the third, "Any progress on convincing Kumo and Kiri to join this venture of ours?"

"I'm afraid they have both turned our offer down." The third told him, "In the past they would not have hesitated in joining us however Kiri is still rebuilding after that typhoon that devastated them and the new Raikage has informed us he wants nothing to do with Konoha."

The first man let out a snort, "Spineless cowards. Bah who needs them, we can crush Konoha even without them plus there will be more rewards for us to reap without them demanding their share." He then looked over at the fourth man who had been quiet all this time, "What about you? Can we count on your villages support or will you chicken out like those other cowards? Although if you do you won't be leaving this room alive."

The Grass nin looked at him, "You do not have to worry about my villages support. Kusa no Kuni is tired of being seen as one of the lesser nations, it is time it was recognised as one of the major powers on this continent."

Satisfied the old man rose up out of his chair and left, the grass nin then vanished from view leaving the three other men alone.

"It seems things are not proceeding as well as we would like." Kabuto said.

"Do not patronise me Kabuto. Having both Kumo and Kiri would have guaranteed our victory." Orochimaru retorted, "But it seems we will just have to proceed without them." the snake Sannin turned to the man in the corner, "So tell me, what do you make of our new ally?"

"He's an idiot, so full of hot air. Always yammering on about getting revenge on Konoha for how they were defeated in the third ninja war." The ninja replied, "Makes you wonder how someone like him made it to be Tsuchikage. The other was much harder to read, we may have to keep a close eye on grass country."

Orochimaru chuckled, "That it does. Come join us." "Lord Orochimaru, I am not worthy to sit by your side, "the nin said.

"Nonsense, you are my most trusted general." Orochimaru told him, "Now come sit."

"As you wish my lord," The ninja sat down at the table.

"So tell us, is the army ready to mobilize?" Kabuto asked.

"Yes Kabuto-sama, they only await the order." The ninja replied.

"Than maybe, however even with support from Iwa and Kusa crushing Konoha will not an easy task." Orochimaru pointed out, "Last time I underestimated them, I will not make that mistake again."

"My lord, I assure you my men will not fail you." The ninja assured his master.

Orochimaru chuckled, "Please remove your mask and allow me to look upon you, doing so brings me great pleasure."

Without hesitation the ninja removed his black hood revealing a man with spiky blond hair and dazzling blue eyes, his face marked with three whisker marks on each cheek.

* * *

AN And finally this chapter is finished, I know its been a while. I will admit this chapter is going up later then I would have liked however life has been throwing me curve balls. First my cat died last weekend and I'm still pretty bummed out about it, he was fine friday morning but something between then and the evening that same day happened and he was refusing to eat or drink and his breathing was pretty shallow. He died on saturday and me and my dad spent the morning digging a grave for him and we buried him in the afternoon. Following that my mom and I've got go see my grandmother on wenesday as she's got a tuma and needs to get it removed, were really hoping it isn't cancer. I'm not trying to get you all to pity me, I'm just telling you the facts.

Anyway before I move on I want to give a quick responce to IasWraith yes I do keep up with the manga, I use Leaf Ninja . com as well as the Naruto Wiki.

Thank you to everyone who replied to my 'A moment of pause', I'm gonna leave it because of all the discussion it generated. Albeit I did post before the end of the Pein invasion arc, did anyone else read the bit where Pein resurrected everyone who had died during the invasion and think "Really Kishimoto, your really going with this, this is best you can come up with". This means that Kishimoto wasted 7 chapters on whether Hinata was going to live or die and it was all pointless. Hinata could have died and it wouldn't have mattered, ugh. I could go on another rant about that.

Here's two things I found I reall want to share with you all, this first is a parody of Hinata's "death", don't worry Hinata fan's I assure you its funny, the other is the ultimate Naruto fight.

http: // www . youtube . com / watch ? v= b 9 K k 1 e u b 2v0

http: // www . youtube . com / watch ? v = C j Q p 3 m F 4 n k

Anyway that's me done for this chapter, I'll get started on the next chapter soon although it might be shorter than the previous one and props to Jokerisdaking for being my proofreader. Please send me your comments and tell me what you all thought cos I have low self esteem and need to be reassurance.

Till next time, peace out.


	10. I'm sorry

Hi everyone

I know this is not an update but I just checked out the latest chapter of Naruto on Leaf Ninja . com and I can't help it I need to comment on this.

It reveals Madara's plan as well as the existence of the ten tailed bijuu which is sealed in the fucking moon which Madara is going to consume with his Sharingan.

I can't help but laugh at this because it's so stupid, I know its manga and that you need to suspend your sense of disbelief at times to buy into it but this is pushing it.

How many fics on this site has an OC character with the Juubi sealed inside them and now Kishimoto is doing what Stephaney Myer did for the Twi-suck series and JK Rowling did for the last 2 Harry Potter book and ripping off fan fiction. 

This can only mean 1 of 2 things.

Madara is completely bat shit insane.

or

Kishimoto has run out of ideas.

I'm sorry but this whole thing reeks of epic fail.

I apologize that this it not a real chapter but I assure you I have started it and am working on it as we speak.


	11. Chapter 7

AN  
"Blah"- Normal Speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
"BLAH"- Jutsu

* * *

_Naruto/Final Fantasy VII  
_Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 7

The early morning air was still as the sun revealed its ray to the town popularly referred to as Crater city. As the name suggested the city was located in the bottom a crater, no one was certain on how it had been created but there were theories some more outrageous then others. Despite that one of the things that made the town well known was the number of festivals that were hosted throughout the year. Today was the last day of the 'festival of the falling leaves' which would mark the end of summer and the beginning of the autumn season. Parked outside one of the towns many inns was a very familiar black motorcycle.

In one of the rooms our blond hero was seated by the window watching as the first signs of life returned to the town. It had been two weeks since he left Konoha in hopes of escaping the constant bombardment of memories that had been awakened within him, in that time he had been riding around Fire country and had arrived in this town in time for the festival that had been going on and upon learning it was going to be lasting for the next several days decided to stick around for it. Whilst Cloud himself was not one for big crowds and party's he did find the local customs and traditions of the people who lived in this part of the world interesting in how different they were then the ones back in the east. He imagined that maybe it had been like this at one point before it was discovered that the lifestream could be utilized as an energy source and Shin-Ra had practically taken over the continent. He was also wondering what his next destination should be, back home business had been so slow he felt no real desire to return in any great hurry. Besides he could think the last time he'd taken a vacation.

_"Today's the last day of this festival, I might as well stay until it's over then I'll figure out what to do next."'_

* * *

Meanwhile far away in Kaminari no Kuni a group of four Kumo nins were participating in a sparring match that had been carrying on through the night and despite all of them showing signs of fatigue and running on the last vapors of chakra showed no sign of ending. One of them was a blonde, well endowed kunoichi with cold blue eyes who went by the name Samui. The second was a tanned skinned ninja named Omoi, the team's taijutu user as well as a skilled swordsman in his own right. The third member was Karui, a tanned woman with red hair and was an even more skilled swordsman than Omoi who she would argue with regularly. Despite this the two of them were an efficient pair and were able to perform deadly combo attacks.

The fourth and final member of the group was the most mysterious, he wore a dark cloak with a hood that covered his head, his face bore a mask that had canine like features. Due to the mask the man was simply known as Kitsune. His clothing that was visible appeared to be more samurai then ninja, which was capped off by the katana that he was currently wielding, the hilt of which bore a canine head with the blade extending from its mouth, and the wakizashi that was at his side.

The four of them continued to glare at one another until both Omoi and Karui both charged at Kitsune.

"Eager to finish are we, you two wanna go make out or something?" Their masked teammate taunted them who then both lashed out at him with their blades.

Kitsune quickly drew his wakizashi and parried the pair's attacks, however they refused to let up. Karui managed to get in behind Kitsune and drove her sword through his back piercing his heart, seeing this Omoi follwed this up by driving his own sword through Kitsune's throat. The masked warrior made several choking noises before there was a puff of smoke and he transformed into a log.

"Shit, he used Kawarimi no Jutsu (Change of Body Stance Technique)." Karui cursed.

A chuckling was heard and looking round they saw Kitsune standing a few meters away from them. His sword still in hand he made a hand sign, "FUUTON: SHIPPU BURE-DO! Hurricane Blade!" Anyone who was familiar the Suna nin Baki knew of his wind sword technique, however Kitsune had his own variation where he instead focused his wind chakra to wined itself around his blade that appeared to come from the foxes mouth making it many times more deadly.

That done he flipped through some more seals, "FUUTON: DAITOPPA! Great Breakthrough!" He then swung his sword creating a large blast of wind capable of levelling almost anything in its way which knocked his teammates to the ground. Kitsune barley had to savour his victory as Samui lunged at him with a kunai.

"You won't defeat me this time you baka fox."

"I love you to." Kitsune replied as he block her blade with his own. The pair traded blows; Kitsune used another Kawarimi to replace himself with a nearby rock to put himself a good distance away from Samui. That done he made another hand sign, "SUITON: UZUMAKI BURE-DO! Whirlpool Blade!" Like before elemental chakra wound its way around the sword only this time was water chakra giving it a whirlpool like appearance.

"Are you four quite done?" the foursome looked round and saw a girl with long raven hair and grey eyes who looked to be 16/17 wearing robes baring the symbol of Kumogakure no sato.

"Raikage-sama." Samui said.

"The four of you have been at this all night, I know each of you are great ninja's however you are of no good to the village if you drop dead from exhaustion." The Raikage told them.

"We apologize Raikage-sama." Kitsune said as he cancelled his jutsu and sheathed his weapons, "Were done now."

"Very well, the four of you have the day off to recover." The Raikage told them, "However Kitsune could you please accompany me?" Kitsune nodded while the other three members of the team then vanished leaving the young kage with the ninja.

The pair then began walked back towards the village and through the streets, Kitsune quickly realised where they were headed and soon they were before a shine that was cut into a side of a mountain and inside were a group of five statues, the five previous Raikages. The current Raikage, who was named Aoi, sunk to her knees and began muttering a prayer whilst Kitsune stood back in silent reverence; his eyes fell upon the statue of the Godaime Raikage who had been the grandfather of Aoi. He had died fighting two members of the Akatsuki, Sasori and Deidara, if he recalled correctly, protecting his brother Kirābī who was also the Jinchuriki for the Hachibi. After his death Aoi had been the one to fill his role.

The two of them were silent for quite a while until Aoi finally broke the silence, "Tell me Kitsune, was staying out of the conflict between Konoha and Oto the right thing?" The young Kage asked.

"Raikage-same?" Kitsune replied.

"I want to change the direction of our village, for too long we have been viewed unfavorably and of which comes from our past involvements with the leaf, particularly with the Hyuuga clan. I know many of the clans think poorly of me however their obsession with acquiring the Byakugan has blinded them and their hatred of the Hyuuga has consumed them." she then turned to look at the masked nin, "I cannot allow this to continue, I chose to decline Oto's invitation because I believe it would only would have continued to simulate this cycle of hate."

"Raikage-sama, I am merely a soldier of the village, it is not my place to question your decisions." Kitsune replied, "I may have own feelings towards Konoha, however you are my kage and will support any decision you make."

"What are your feelings towards Konoha, these past 15 years that I've know you you've never really spoken about what made you leave" Aoi asked? Kitsune turned his eyes to the ground, seeing this a sad smile spread across Aoi's face, "I see, don't worry I won't push you if you don't wish to answer. Go on, go home. You need your rest after all." Kitsune bowed before using the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to leave. Aoi stared at where the masked ninja had been, _'Kitsune, why will you not make peace with your past? Instead you hide behind that mask.'_

* * *

In another part of the shinobi world Sasuke and his party were seated outside a shrine, they had spent most of the night travelling and were taking the opportunity to rest up before moving on. Jugo was seated in a meditative state, a technique he'd discovered that helped control his violent urges, with a bird seated on his shoulder, Suigetsu was sipping from his water bottle and Karin was by the door waiting for Sasuke to emerge.

Inside Sasuke like Jugo was also meditating, however unlike his so-called teammate he was not trying to calm his rage but focus it. After all Itachi had challenged him to live a life based purely on hating his older brother, it was what had shaped him into the person he was now and all he had to do to achieve it was by throwing away all his previous bonds and ties with his home and now live as an S-rank criminal wanted in every nation. On some level he was aware that the life he'd chosen was a self defeating one, once he had killed Itachi he would have nothing left to live for, however it was too late for him to turn back now.

He'd already abandoned his home, betrayed its teachings and violated the trust of everyone who had been important to him as well as killing several members of its military as well as civilians, associated with a known criminal and had committed several horrendous acts under his command. He'd also committed mass murder simply to test his strength. No matter what he did he was already dammed, the sins of his accursed ancestors coursed through him and he was making no effort to atone for them. Having had enough of sitting there he picked up his sword that was lying in front of him before getting to his feet and exiting the room to where the other members of his team were waiting. "Get your crap together, we'll be moving out soon." He told them.

"But we've only been here an hour, can't we rest a little longer?" Suigetsu complained. "Don't question Sasuke-kun," Karin snapped, "He knows what best."

"There you go again; you know something you never fail to amaze me Karin." Suigetsu scoffed, "Just when I think you can't act like any more of the stalker fan girl your devotion to Mr Sunshine there sinks to an even greater depth."

"Will the two of you shut the hell up." Sasuke snapped, "Now do as I say, remember that each of you is expendable and are easily disposed of once I have no more use for you." He then fixed both Suigetsu and Karin with a cold stared before sliding his sword into his belt.

"Just how much longer are we going to do this for?" Suigetsu asked, "We've been doing this for the last eight years and we're no closer to finding your brother then we were when this shit started. You promised that if I helped you then you'd help me claim all the blades of the seven swordsmen and after all that time how many do I have, one. One stinking sword, I'm tired of this Uchiha, we hate each other and we barley function as it is." Before the former Kiri nin could say another word Sasuke vanished and reappeared in front of him, the Uchiha's Sharingan was blazing and his hand was crackling with lightning chakra.

"One more word out of you and I shall reduce you to a puddle even you couldn't reform yourself from." The Uchiha threatened, he then backed off leaving Suigetsu silently cursing the raven haired ninja. To add insult to injury Karin gave a 'ha' of triumph before jogging after Sasuke. Nearby Jugo let out a small sigh, it was going to be another long day.

* * *

Two days later and we find the formidable sand kunoichi Temari leaping from tree to tree with her three precious little genin following behind her. The foursome were making their way towards Konoha, Temari had been given the task of delivering some important scrolls and since it was a straight forward job she decided to let her team tag along, after all it was good experience for them since this would be their first time outside of Kaze no Kuni and they would get to experience another of the elemental countries, plus they'd earn a little money on the side. It would give her the chance to catch up with her friends in Konoha whom she hadn't seen in a while. It had been a fairly uneventful trip, the only thing that had broken up the trip was when they discovered a family of farmers who'd been travelling to the next town to sell their wares at the market and were attacked by bandits. They had been on the move for a day and a half and it would take them another day before they would reach the lush forest that surrounded Konoha and already her students were becoming frustrated about the lack of anything to do, the excitement about being in another country had long since worn off. Temari led her team on for another hour before she decided to stop.

"Finally." Daichi commented.

"Hey don't complain, just because you're out of shape and can't keep up with Temari-sensei." Nene snapped at her twin.

"What you call me you little brat?" Daichi hissed.

"You heard me baka, are you going deaf in your old age." Nene retorted.

"Old age, I'm only ten minutes older then you." Daichi shot back.

"Will the two of you knock it off." Orion told the pair, however all this did was get the twins to turn on him.

Nearby Temari glanced over at the three of them and let out a groan of frustration, _'How did these three pass their graduation test again?'_

She then took out a container of water and took a slip from it. The party rested up for a few more minutes before Temari decided to start moving again, she was about to leap onto the branch of the next tree when something caught her attention. Something dark was moving in the distance but due to the maze of green leaves and branches it was difficult to make out.

"Is something wrong Sensei?" Orion asked.

"I don't know." Temari replied, "Let's go but keep quiet and don't draw attention to yourselves." They then set off again; Temari was slightly ahead of the three genin for their own protection just in case what was hiding was hostile. After a few minutes they neared a small clearing in which were a dozen people who were clad in a grey flak jacket that lacked any pouches in which scroll could be stored as well as a zipper and underneath was a black undershirt that were missing one of their sleeves who had they had made camp there. Although she couldn't see their head bands Temari instantly recognized them as being ninja from Iwa, _'But what are they doing this far from Tsuchi?'_

"Sensei, what should we do?" Daichi whispered.

"Let's move, as quietly as possible." Temari whispered back. She was about to lead her team away when six nin's with hitae-ate's with the symbol of Kusaga engraved on them appeared, _'Grass nins, what are they doing here?'_

"Are your forces ready to move out?" One of the grass nin asked, we need to rendezvous with the others in time for the attack."

"Hey don't question us, we'll move as soon as we're good and ready." One of the Iwa nins responded, "Don't even know why we need you, the might of Iwa will crush any enemy." "And yet even with your so-called might you still lost the last ninja war." A second grass nin snorted which caused the Iwa nin to draw his sword.

"What was that you snivelling little cur? Care to repeat that?" he threatened as he pointed his sword at the grass nins throat.

"Alright that's enough." Another Iwa nin, who Temari guess was in charge of his group, barked as he emerged from one of the mud tents, "Save your threats for the enemy." He then turned to the leader of the grass nins, "What have you to report?"

"Just here to let you know that the support from Oto will be arriving by noon tomorrow, they wish to you to be prepared to move out once they arrive." The grass nin reported.

"Excellent." The Iwa captain replied.

Up in the tree Temari had listened and she did like what she was hearing, _'This can't be right, is this some sort of Oto Iwa Kusaga alliance? Whatever the case I need to warn Konoha.'_ Close by Temari's students had been silently awaiting their sensei's orders to move. Orion who had been leaning to try and get a better look suddenly fell forward, he grabbed hold of a branch as he fell hoping it would stop his decent however it broke but he managed to land on another branch. However this caught the Iwa and Kusaga nin's attention, looking up they saw Temari and her party.

"Spies." One of the Iwa Kusaga nins hissed.

"GET THEM!" the Iwa captain roared. Several of his men grabbed kunai and shurikens and threw them at the four Suna nins.

"Run." Temari yelled at her students, she then removed the fan from her back unfurled his and embedded it with chakra, "FUUTON: DAITOPPA! Great Breakthrough!" Imbuing her fan with her chakra Temari released a burst of wind which knocked the collection on flying weapons out of the air, if nothing else this would give her students enough time to get away. "DOTON: DORRYUU HEKI!- Earth Wall!" several of the Iwa nins flipped through seals before releasing a stream of what looked like of mud around the tree where Temari was, the mud then rose up creating a large mud wall. Normally this technique was used as a defensive move however it also made a rather effective way of cutting off an opponent's means of retreat. "Shit." Temari cursed.

"KATON: ENDAN! Fireball!" several of the ninja released a jet of fire at the tree causing it to ignite. Having no other choice Temari leapt from her burning platform to the ground, although she hated to admit it she was now at her enemy's mercy.

"Well ,well, well, what do we have here." The Iwa captain commented, he took a moment to study Temari's face before he spoke again, "Ah yes I recognize you now, Temari Sabaku, Suna's desert bloom and sister of the Kazekage." He then gave her a mock bow, "It is an honour to meet such a lady, now the question is what do we do with you now?"

"Oh I'm sure we can come up with something." The leader of the Kusaga nins commented, a sick looking grin spreading across his face.

Temari raised her fan, "Sorry boys but I'm not so easy." She raised her fan for another swing, "FUUTON: DAI KAMAITACHI! Great Cutting Whirlwind!" once more imbuing the fan with her chakra Temari created another mighty burst of wind, this one having incredible destructive power.

"DOTON: DORO GAESHI! Mud Over Turn!" the Iwa captain struck the ground with his hands, a large wall of earth rose up to protect him and his men. The wind struck the wall which cut through it like paper as well as destroy the camp site; however it did provide enough of a barrier for the enemy to get out of the way.

* * *

Nearby Cloud was riding through the forest when the sounds of battle caught his attention, thinking there might be someone in trouble he took off towards the sounds origins riding through the trees until he came to a clearing. In it he discovered over a dozen people, most of them wearing head bands with symbols on them he didn't recognize. However one amongst them was the blond woman he'd met in Suna, Temari if he remembered correctly. "Cloud." Temari said sounding relieved.

"Hey who are you, what the heck are you doing here?" One of the Iwa ninja demanded. "I don't know but if Sabaku knows him then he must also be a part of Suna's forces." His captain said, "Get him." Several of the Iwa nins drew their swords.

Flicking a switch the front part of Clouds bike opened up and he drew First Tsurugi from one of the compartments. Sliding off the machine Cloud engaged several of the ninjas using his large blade to engage, parry and block their attacks. One of the Kusaga made to strike at the blond swordsman only for Cloud to grab a hold of his arm in order to bring the ninja closer to him before nailing him with a knee to the gut.

"This guy is good," The Iwa captain commented, "But let's see how he handles this. DOTON: TSUCHI BUSHIN NO JUTSU! Earth Clone!" Several copies of the captain rose out of the earth; each one of them drew their weapons and charged Cloud. The clones proved to be quite a bother for the swordsman as they had access to all the justu of their maker.

On the other side of the clearing Temari, who was dealing with the Kusaga ninja, glanced over at the blond swordsman seeing the trouble he was in, "Cloud, earth jutsu are weak against lightning." Dodging another strike Cloud reached into a pouch on his belt and took out two small orbs that were glowing with yellow energy, he placed one in the band on his wrist and another in a slot on his weapon both his hand and his sword began crackling with energy.

"Thundaga!" he cried and raised his hand into the air, several large bolts of lightning were released from it striking the clones reducing them back to mud. That done he then raised his weapon and in a single swing used it to reduce two more of the clones to mud.

On the other side of the clearing Temari was also not being idle, the Kusaga nins and a couple of Iwa nins had engaged her. Whist she much preferred to use her long range skills allowing her to take out her opponents with wind jutsu over close combat didn't mean she wasn't totally unskilled when it came to it. Knowing that it had been her one major weakness she had developed her own simple style of Taijutus that was more focused on evading her opponent's attacks coupled with several offensive strikes plus when folded up her fan also doubled as a very effective club. She had just ducked out of the way of one opponent's strikes and delivered a sweeping kick to his leg knocking him to the ground before twisting out of the way of the next guy. The two of them continued for several minutes having dispatched almost half of the Iwa forces as well as several of the Kusaga.

"Stop right there." The Iwa captain commanded catching the two blond fighter's attention. To Temari's horror she saw a few more of the captains clones each of who had one of her students with a kunai to their throats. The Iwa captain was smirking as he saw the look on Temari's face, "I suggest to put your weapons down unless you want to see these dear sweet little children be gutted in front of you."

A shadow descended over the small party of remaining Kusaga ninja, it grew larger and then a large orange toad with purple markings wearing a dark grey shirt with a yukuza sword at its side landed on top of them. Standing a top of the creatures back was a man with long white hair. The man chuckled, "KUCHIYOSE: YATAI KUZUSHI NO JUTSU! Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique!"

"Hey Ero-Sennin, I'm expecting some major compensation for that little stunt." The toad told the person on his back.

"No worries Gamakichi, I'll see to it that you're handsomely rewarded for this." Jiraiya told the amphibian.

"No way it can't be," one of Iwa nins said in a panicked tone, "Jiraiya of the Sannin?."

"I see my reputation precedes me." Jiraiya said as he jumped off the toads back, "Well well, what do we have here. A bunch of Iwa nin deep within the Hi no Kuni, I must say that I find this very suspicious."

"Shut up old man, I don't care if you are a Sannin. I'm personally going to dice you into little pieces." The Iwa captain told the elderly ninja, he then ordered several of his men to attack.

"TSUIN RASENGAN! Twin Spiralling Spheres!" A sphere of spinning energy appeared in both of the aged sage's hands which he used to blow away a pair of enemies.

"SUITON: TEPPOUDAMA! Bullet!" Gamakichi yelled and fired several orbs of water from his mouth at the remaining enemy ninja's.

Seizing the opportunity Cloud and Temari retried their weapons and whilst Cloud went on the offensive Temari made a beeline for her students. "FUUTON: DAITOPPA! Great Breakthrough!" Imbuing her fan with chakra Temari released another powerful burst of wind, this time at the clones who held her students captive.

"What is she crazy?" Each of them commented. Orion Nene and Daichi however had anticipated this, using the clones moment of confusion they quickly used a Kawarimi to substitute themselves with nearby objects to free themselves which their sensei's jutsu took out the clones.

"Are you three alright?" Temari asked.

"Hai sensei." The three kids replied. "Good, now go make yourselves scares whilst Cloud Jiraiya-sama and myself deal with this." The three genin then vanished. Between them the two ninja and blond swordsmen took care of the remaining ninja until only a couple remained including the Iwa captain. They went to make their escape however Jiraiya had other ideas, "I don't think so. KUCHIYOSE: GAMAGUCHI SHIBARI! Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind!" After forming the necessary hand seals, Jiraiya placed both his palms on the ground and the surrounding was transformed into a mass of soft pinkish flesh, the air around them becoming moist and carried a rather unpleasant odor. The feet of the Iwa nins sunk slightly and the flesh formed around them trapping them. "Now that I have your undivided attention maybe now we can have a civilized conversation." Jiraiya said in a solemn tone.

"No need Jiraiya –sama, I overheard them talking." Temari told the aged ninja, "They mentioned some kind of attack as well as having support from Oto, It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Konoha is their target. "Really, how interesting. However I have my own questions." Jiraiya told her, he then turned to the Iwa captain, "You know I've made an interesting discovery recently, many of my informants are turning up dead recently all of seemingly unknown causes. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you." The Iwa captain responded only with a glare. "I guess not, oh well let's move on shall we. This attack your country is planning has caught my interest so you're going to tell me what you know." Jiraiya said in a commanding tone. "Go to hell old man." The Iwa captain replied.

"Foolish youngsters, always got to do it the hard way." He flipped through a few more seals. "KAERU KAERU NO JUTSU! Frog Conversion Technique!" he then touched the Iwa captain's forehead and in a 'poof' of smoke he had been transformed into a frog. Off to the side Cloud's eyes widened in surprise, "Did he just…"

"Shh." Temari hissed silencing him. His task done Jiraiya moved on the next Iwa nin who was looking quite terrified, "Now unless you want to end up like your captain I suggest you start talking." "I…I don't know everything, all I know is that we're meeting up with the main force in about a few days time." The ninja replied. "When will the attacks start?" Jiraiya demanded. "Uh…I week, I think." Hearing this Jiraiya picked up the toad that had been the Iwa captain and thrust it into the ninja's arms, "Get out of here and take this with you." The second the jutsu was released the remaining ninja fled the scene leaving Cloud Temari Jiraiya and Temari's three students behind. "This is not good." Temari commented, "We have to warn Konoha and quick. But do you really think the city can be prepared for a large scale assault in less than a week?"

"I don't know." Jiraiya replied. Cloud listened to their conversation, and he was torn over what to do. Given all of the memories that he had seen part of him questioned why he should even care about Konoha given the way it supposedly treated him (and the jury was still out on whether he could completely trust them or whether the baka fox was screwing with him) but then memories of when Sephiroth massacred Nibelheim came to him, how many people had lost their lives whilst others had had theirs destroyed on that day? Maybe the images he had seen were correct but he could not bring himself to allow the lives of innocent's people to be destroyed as his had, to have their loved ones taken away and have to deal with the feelings that came with that which he knew all too well. His mind made up Cloud dashed over to his bike and placed his sword back inside its compartment, that done he jumped on the machine and started the engine into life and spun it around facing back the way he came.

"Where are you going?" Jiraiya asked.

"To try and buy you some time." Cloud replied before he raced away. Temari Jiraiya and Gamakichi watched as Cloud drove off, Jiraiya then let out a groan before flipping though some more hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu! Summoning!" Jiraiya summoned up another toad, "Take Temari and her students back to Suna and hurry." The toad gave a croak and nodded over to the Suna nin and her students. "What about you?" Temari asked as she helped her students climb onto the amphibian summon before hoping on herself. "I'm going to head back to Konoha to warn them, in the meantime you head home and tell Gaara, against the combined strength of Oto Iwa and Kusaga we'll need all the help we can get." he told her, "Oh and you may want to hold on, the ride is going to get pretty bumpy."

Temari nodded, "Alright, tell your Hokage I'll be back as soon as I can." The toad then let out a croak before bounding away. With that done Jiriaya looked over at Gamakichi, "Head back to and tell Fukasaku to get ready, it will be quicker if I use the Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Reverse Summoning Technique) to get there." Gamakichi nodded then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Jiriya didn't have to wait long and soon enough he vanished from the clearing and found himself in the familiar landscape of Myōbokuzan. "Good to see you Jiriaya." Hearing his name the elderly ninja looked over his shoulder and saw an elderly looking toad complete with white hair and beard. "As it is you Fukasaku-sama, however I wish it were under better circumstances." Jiraiya replied, "I need to get to Konoha and fast."

"Yes, Gamakichi mentioned this." The elderly toad said in a serious tone, "I take it you may need our assistance?"

"With Orochimaru involved I wouldn't rule it out." Jiraiya said, his tone matching Fukasaku.

"Very well." Then we best hurry." Fakasaku said before leading Jiraiya to the pool that connected Myōbokuzan with Konoha. Without a moment's hesitation Jiraiya leapt into it finding himself instantly finding himself in Konoha, without a second to spare he dashed toward the Hokage's tower to find Kakashi.

* * *

AN Finally chapter 7 is fini, it's going up later then I planned however it was delayed because of tech problems. This chapter was pretty short compared to others I've written but it did what it needed to do and with it finally finished we move into the next phase of this story, The Konoha Invasion arc.

I also want to take a moment to thank everyone who's been leaving comments, the feed back I get is really apriciated and it makes me happy to know that so many people out there have taken an intrest in something I've written. Also sorry for the 'I'm sorry' thing, I try not to do those sought of things but what Kishimoto came up with for is Madara's plan is so stupid that I had to share my thoughts on it

On a more important note (well important to me anyway) Sakura confessed her love for Naruto (does happy dance) and he turns her down (happy dance stops), what really gets my goat is that Naruto said he hates people who lie to themselves when he's lying to himself and can't face the fact that for his goals of peace to have a chance of suceeding Sasuke has to die.

On a side note which when I read a fic not long ago called Five by Five which depicts Naruto holding onto a sugar coated image of the past along with this ideal versions of Sakura, still seeing her as the way she was back when she was 12, and Sasuke when in reality he was a complete prick as it ties in with nostalgic image of the past. He can't accept the reality of the situation cos if he did he would have face up to the face that Sakura is not the same girl she was at the end of part 1 and that Sasuke is his enemy.

First I truely believe that Sakura's feelings for Naruto are genuin, she'd gone from the love struck and weak liitle girl that needed to be protected to a mature strong woman and who has from viewing Naruto as an annoying pest to teammate to friend to finally to someone she could she spending her life with. She may be going to track down Sasuke now however I doubt its because she's magically fallen in love with emo-maggot again (she'd better not have Kishi), Sakura should find him tell him of the situation that the other members of Konoha 11 will be after him and that despite their history she won't allow him to pose a threat to Konoha and Sasuke, aknowlaging their history and seeing her growth, say's she understands and lets her go (or that's what should happen).

Other then that Twilight: New Moon came out, suddenly Transformers 2 is looking really good.

Ok that's me done, I'll start on the next chapter soon, in the meantime please keep sending me your reviews and a big thanks to Jokerisdaking for proof reading this.

Until then peace out yo.


	12. Chapter 7 point 5

AN  
"Blah"- Normal speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
-Blah- - Phone

* * *

_Lost Son of Konoha_

Chapter 7.5

The day began as the sun peaked of the peaks of Mt. Nibel bathing the small sleepy town of Nibelheim with its warmth. On the edge of town stood a large house that was fenced off from the rest of the public, even today it is the centre of many rumours and urban legends. The most popular being that the house was haunted or even more outrageously that there was a curse placed upon it and that a monster lives within its basement and feeds off the life force of anyone brave or foolish enough to enter. Looking into the house's history it wasn't difficult to figure out where several of these rumours had originated from.

The house had been the regional headquarters of Shinra as well as being the home of its head scientist Hojo along with his partner Lucrecia, in the laboratory constructed in the mansion's basement he was involved with many experiments which included the creation of Sephiroth, the SOLDIER enhancements to Cloud and Zack and introducing the DNA of several monsters into the body of Vincent.

Despite being a man of science Hojo and the other members of Shinra stationed there had never come clean about the mansions purposes, after all there was no better defence against intruders then urban paranoia and those stupid enough to break in were never seen again, so it was a surprise to the whole town when three years ago a newly married couple along with a young girl came into town and took over the property and where mostly seen on a regular basis.

* * *

In the master bedroom the mistress of the house, a Mrs Tifa Lockhart Valentine, was stirring. Once she had worked the kinks out of her body she looked beside her only to find the spot empty. She sighed in disappointment; of course he wouldn't be back yet. Her husband of three years had been gone for a week now; Vincent had been called up over a week ago by Reeve telling him about some job that needed doing and a few days later the pale skinned gunman had set off to meet with bearded leader of the WRO.

Knowing better then to dwell on it Tifa prepared to rise from her bed in order to prepare for the day's comings and as she did a feeling of dizziness and nausea overcame her, Tifa steadied herself as she'd been feeling this way for the last week or so. She was knew the smart thing to do was to go see the doctor in town however her stubborn nature was against it, it was probably nothing anyway. After a quick shower and putting on her cloths Tifa made her way to the kitchen, before leaving her room her eyes fell upon the mantle and on it was a picture of her wedding day.

She could still remember the feelings of nervousness and excitement and even though it was three years ago it still felt like yesterday putting on that great puffy dress that made her look like some kind of desert and walking up the rocky ground to where she would begin the rest of her life with possibly the last man she'd ever expected. The ceremony had taken place in Lucerica's cave, she assumed it was Vincent's way of showing his former love that he was moving on with his life, there before the crystallised mako coffin of the former Shinra scientist the two of them pledged their lives for one another.

All their friends had been present to celebrate the couples union and all were genuinely happy for them although there were two people she'd been worried about, Yuffie, who'd made no secret about her crush on Vincent, and Cloud. For her letting go of Cloud had been a difficult thing, deep down she still loved him and she knew that she always would; no matter what she would hold a place for him in her heart, but thankfully Cloud hadn't caused any fuss over the matter and seemed glad for her and Vincent. Shaking her head Tifa left the room and made her way down to the kitchen, on her way she couldn't help but remember when Vincent had told her about coming to live here after they were married she's thought he was crazy after all.

On her first visit to the mansion along with the other members of Avalanche the place had been crawling with monsters. It had taken awhile but with the help of their friends they managed to clean the place out and eradicate the nests so they didn't need to worry about them re-spawning. Entering the kitchen she had to force herself not to let out another sigh of disappointment, usually Vincent would be up before her and would have already have put a pot of coffee on however this week had been one of the times since their marriage that she'd had to do it herself. Filling the kettle with water she filled the pot with beans whilst she waited for the water to boil, as she did she recalled that the anniversary of the forming of Avalanche would be coming up soon which also brought up thoughts about the other former members of the now defunct group.

Marelene was currently off with her father, Barret; the two of them were visiting Costa Del Sol. The two of them hadn't seen one another in a while so it was good that they spent time together even though Marelene was often embarrassed that he still treated her like a little girl.

Nanaki, also known to them as Red XIII, still resided in Cosmo Canyon; last she's heard from him he'd been searching for a female of him kind by the name of Deneh and though so far he'd been unsuccessful he was still hopeful that he would find her. Although he'd never said so out loud Tifa could tell that Nanaki had a great attachment to this Deneh and wished him all the luck in the world that he would find her.

She hadn't heard from Yuffie in some time either, last she heard she was still working with the WRO alongside Reeve and Cat Sith. Recently there had been reports that Reeve had been in talks with Rufus Shinra about getting aid to help rebuild and renew areas that been neglected thus far. No one could be certain by what the outcome of the meetings had been however several members of Turks, including Reno and Rude, had been seen seemingly escorting WRO personnel.

Soon enough the water was boiled and she poured it into the pot when the sound of footsteps was heard and Shelke emerged from the old laboratory in the mansions basement and appeared in the doorway of the kitchen.

Despite having the appearance of a young girl Shelke was actually nineteen years of age however at age ten she'd been kidnapped by a rogue faction of SOLDIER known as Deep Ground who then went on to conduct various experiments on her. These experiments stunted her growth, leaving her with the appearance of a young child as well as requiring daily treatments of mako to survive and as such she now slept in a tank of liquid mako in the same room that still housed the coffin that Vincent had slept in for 15 years before Tifa and the other members of Avalanche met him whilst searching the mansion for clues about Sephiroth. Tifa had to admit she wasn't entirely sure about Shelke coming to live with her and Vincent however the long haired gunman had been persistent about it, Tifa guessed it had something to do with Shelke's deceased sister Shalua whom he'd met in the incident with Deep Ground.

Shelke nodded to the dark haired woman as she went over to the cupboard that contained a bottle of liquid mako and a glass. Shelke sat down at the table and poured the Mako into the glass before drinking it in the same way another person would orange juice. Soon enough Tifa had had her morning coffee as well as quickly having something to eat.

"Ok, I'm heading off to work." Shelke nodded in reply.

Grabbing her gear Tifa was soon out the door and walking through the streets of Nibelheim. Like the phoenix the town had risen from the ashes by the ruination left in the wake of Sephiroth's rage. Taking in the surroundings it was difficult to imagine that this had been a place where a great tragedy had occured, the streets were filled with life, children ran and shouted at one another whilst the adults went about their business. The sight couldn't help but bring a smile to Tifa's face, whilst those who had survived would never forget the devastation caused by the silver haired spawn of Jenova the town's inheritance were at the very least trying to move on with their lives.

* * *

The night air was still and not a soul could be seen and the only sound that could be heard was the noise of the rain as it fell upon the earth. This was broken by the sound of a car rumbling along the street as it pulled up outside of a certain a building; the door opened and from the vehicle emerged a figure with long black hair dressed in a black body suit with a red cloak wrapped around his shoulders and a matching head band.

Several things made this man stand out from a crowd; the first was his pale skin and blood red eyes whilst another was the golden claw that was his left arm. Vincent had recently finished a job that involved helping to eradicate a pack of monsters that had taken up resident in the ruins of Midgar, there was a fear that they may pose a threat to Edge and since Cloud wasn't around it had fallen on his shoulders to take care of them before they could spread beyond the ruined city.

Despite its ruined state Midgar had become a hot bed of activity again of late, teams going in to try and recover the technology that had been developed by Shin-Ra as well as any of the data that was stored at its facilities. Walking up to the door Vincent ran his hand along the wall until he found a loose brick, pulling it out he found a key which he used to open the front door and did his best to not step on the pile of mail that was the floor, after picking it up and placing it on a table in the living room he headed up to Clouds office to check his messages.

Like his wife Vincent was wondering why their blond friend had not been in contact with them for over a month, last time he'd been in contact was to tell them he'd gotten a job that would take him away from town for a while, but hadn't mentioned where, and if they could check his messages. The journey was a quick one as Vincent was not unfamiliar with the layout of Cloud's home, up the stairs and the first door on the left, entering the room Vincent found it in the same state it always seemed to be in on his visits, organised chaos.

Piles of papers either stacked together or scattered everywhere, Cloud's filing system was one he doubted even the world's most gifted of secretaries could figure out however it seemed to work for the blond swordsman and Vincent knew to leave the subject well enough alone. Approaching the desk which contained a computer and phone that was almost completely buried by more papers and picked up the phone, dialling the number for voicemail; there were several messages but they were mostly from Tifa.

Vincent couldn't say he wasn't surprised, Tifa maybe his wife now however he knew she would always carry a torch for Cloud. She couldn't help it and he could not fault her for it, after all first loves was a wonderful and terrible thing and he'd gone through the same thing with Lucrecia. Putting the phone down he then switched on Clouds computer and after a few minutes a message appeared telling Vincent to type in the password, and knowing Cloud it was pretty obvious.

Typing in the word Cetra then hitting enter, the system started loading up, Vincent logged into Clouds messages and found a receipt for an airship trip to the Land of Waves.

_'Why would Cloud go there, is he that desperate for work?'_ Vincent wondered as he checked the time and date of departure, he then began searching through the piles of paper until he came across an order for a Mrs Tenten Hyuuga, Hyuuga Compound Branch House, Konohagakure no sato, Hi no Kuni. Frowning Vincent put the order down, picked up Cloud's phone and dialled, _'She's is not going to like this.'_

* * *

Back in Niebelheim Tifa had gotten home from work and was going through the kitchen looking for something quick to eat when her phone began ringing, abandoning her quest she answered, "Hello."

-Tifa.- the familiar gravelly voice of her husband was heard on the other end of the line.

"Vincent," Tifa said her tone becoming a cheerful, "You haven't called in a couple of days, how did the job go?"

-Its done.- Vincent replied, -I'm in Edge at the moment checking on Cloud's place. listen I've gone through his messages and I found an order that's taken him to the Elemental countries.-

"What!!!" Tifa exclaimed, "Why's he do that? He can't be so desperate for work that he'd go there?"

-Focus Tifa.- Vincent said sternly, -Soon as you can call Cid and talk to him about getting passage on an airship.-

"Ok, I'll do just that. What about you?" Tifa asked.

-Don't worry about me you and Shelke get whatever gear and equipment you think you'll need and head to Rocket Town, I'll meet up with you as soon as I can.- Vincent told her.

"Right, I'll get right on that." Tifa said in a firm tone, "But what about the others, should I call them as well?"

-I'll do that.- Vincent replied.

"Ok, but geez what an idiot." Tifa hissed in annoyance, "What could have possessed him to take a job that would involve going to the elemental countries?"

-When we find him you can ask him.- Vincent assured her, -I'll see you in a few days.-

"Right." Tifa said just before Vincent hung up.

"Tifa!" hearing a voice Tifa looked around and saw Shelke standing there.

"I take it you overheard that?" Tifa asked. Shelke nodded in reply. "Go and pack, bring any items and equipment you think you'll need." Tifa told her.

"Very well, but what do I need them for?" Shelke asked.

"We need to go bail Cloud out of trouble." Tifa replied as she began dialling Cid's number.

* * *

The life of Cid Highwind had been one of great change since the fall of Shinra, at one point all he'd cared about was heading into space and now he was a married man running a successful airship company that transported passenger and cargo throughout the territories and even to the elemental nations although very few actually went there. In the past both he and Shera had both been in the employment of Shinra, she was one of its scientist whilst he was regarded as one the best aircraft designers and pilot on the continent.

After the failed launch of the rocket that he'd designed and built he'd become embittered and hot tempered blaming Shera for the incident, it wasn't until much later on that in another incident when Shinra commandeered the rocket and wanted to use it as a weapon against Meteor that he finally forgave her and two years later when he nearly lost her to Geostigma he discovered just what she meant to him; now she was his wife and as well as the mother of their first child, a healthy baby boy by the name of Kane.

The blond pilot was currently on the bridge of his prize airship, the Shera, with a bottle of whisky and his son who was playing with a spanner banging it against various pieces of scrap metal. Cid chuckled at this before taking another swig from his bottle, _'That kid of mine, he'll make one heck of an engineer.'_

"Hey Cid," Just then the sound of his significant others voice was heard seconds before she appeared on the bridge, "Geez Cid, I thought you you'd give him a bath before putting him to bed." She said in a disapproving tone.

"Shucks Shera (Cid would always do his best not to swear around his son, which given how much of a foul mouth he had was a tall order at times), cut me some slack willya." Cid replied as he set the bottle down on a nearby consol.

"Just gotta a call from Tifa, says she needs to talk to ya about something urgent." Shera said as she trust then phone into her husband's free hand before picking her son from off the floor, "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going off to do the job you should have done." Cid muttered under his breath before putting the phone to his ear.

"Tifa shit girl how ya been, ain't seen your or Vince since Kane's birthday."

-Not bad Cid, wish I could be calling under better circumstances.- Tifa told him, -Listen, I need you to book Vincent, myself and Shelke on the next possible airship.-

"Heck girl what do I look like, a fucking travel agent." Cid said in an irritated tone, "You want that just call the front desk."

-Cid pleased listen, Cloud's missing and we need your help.- Tifa pleaded.

"What's that spiky haired idiot gotten himself into this time?" Cid groaned before taking another swig.

-He's gone to the elemental countries.- Tifa informed him, this caused the blond pilot to almost choke on his whisky.

"What, why'd the hell did he go there?" Cid coughed, "he got a death wish or somthin?"

-I don't know, all I do is that he's been missing for nearly a month now.- Tifa replied, I know I'm asking a lot and I know you've got a lot more responsibilities now but will you help us Cid? Cid was silent for a moment as he wiped some of his spat up alcohol off his face.

"Alright I'll see what I can do. You just stay put Tifa, I'll contact you again when I've got everything sorted." He could almost hear the smile that was spreading across the dark haired woman's face.

-Thanks Cid.-

"Now don't start, you'll make me blush for Christ's sake. I'll be in touch." Cid told her just before hanging up.

* * *

Rain and wind beat down upon the earth and despite it being mid afternoon the sky was so clouded over it could be mistake for night time, normally Vincent wasn't a superstitious man however if someone were to call the current weather an ill omen he'd find it difficult to rebut it, somewhere something was very wrong. It had been two days since he'd left Edge, the moment he'd left Cloud's home he'd driven straight to the port at Junon and was now headed towards Rocket Town where with any luck Tifa and Shelke were already waiting for him and there was an airship to take them to the Elemental Countries.

His car trundled along the virtually deserted road, everyone else seemingly have enough sense to stay inside unless they were like him and needed to get somewhere urgently, the rain repeatedly pelted against the windscreen making it next impossible to see out of the glass. However Vincent had an advantage that regular people lacked, being the host of several demonic entities that he now had mastery over gave him options as well make him more in tune with his environment.

Channelling just enough of Gillian Beast made his senses sharper which came in handy since he'd have to travel along the mountain roads of MT Corel. Just then Vincent's cell phone began ringing.

"Valentine." Vincent said once he hit the answer button and put the devise to his ear.

-Vincent.- said a voice at the other end.

"Tifa, where are you?" Vincent asked.

-I'm with Cid and Shera right now.- Tifa told her husband, -He managed to sort out passage for us.-

"Good, you just stay put. I should reach you by tomorrow." Vincent told her.

-Why wait that long.- Tifa said in a mischievous tone.

"What do you mean by that?" Vincent asked.

-Just look out your window and see.- Tifa then hung up leaving Vincent feeling confused.

Just then something emerged from the clouds above, squinting Vincent peered out of the window before pulling off the road as the object descended towards the ground and Vincent took in the familiar form of the Shera, just then the ramp of the ship descended allowing Vincent to drive up it and into the ship.

Once parked Vincent made his way towards the bridge of the ship on it he was greeted by Tifa who rushed towards him and pulled him into her arms. Also there was Cid, who was manning the controls.

Shelke, who was at the navigation computer, and Nanaki who was at her side with Cat Sith sitting on the fire lions back. Barret, who was off to one side polishing his gun arm. And finally Yuffie who was watching as Tifa embraced him. Her arms still wrapped around him Tifa pulled away and smiled at Vincent impishly, "Well, seems Avalanche is back in business."

"So it seems." Vincent replied, he then looked over at Cid, "Y'know when I asked Tifa to contact you about passage on an airship this isn't what I had in mind."

"Shit Vince ya ingrate, don't ya know the sayin bout lookin a gift horse in the mouth." Cid replied, "Let me just say that ya little woman there can be a pretty convincin when it comes to bargain when need be."

"Yeah anyway were all here now, so what you say we get this bird going." Yuffie cheered, "Cloud needs us after all."

"Yeah, so what's that spiky haired idiot got himself into this time?" Barret added.

"Barret, where's Marelene?" Vincent asked, "You'd better not have left her in Costa Del Sol all by herself."

"No worries Vince, she's down below helpin Shera look after the kid." Cid told the pale skinned gunslinger.

"What's Yuffie doing here, I thought you'd be busy working with the WRO?" Vincent asked the young ninja.

"No need to worry, Reeve gave me some time off so I could help you guys out." Yuffie replied, "Besides there are ninja in the Elemental Countries and I wanna see how I stack up against them."

"Need I remind you all that Cloud may be in danger." Nanaki spoke up.

"Aye laddie, let's get this bucket of bolts into the air already." Cat Sith added.

"Hey watch it ya bucket of bolt." Cid growled.

"Cid." Vincent said in a firm tone.

"Alright, alright." Cid grumbled, after manipulating some of the controls the ships engines roared into life a few seconds later allowing the craft to rise off the ground and back up into the clouds.

"That's better; all that rain was makin me feel a lil gloomy." Cid said, he then turned to Shelke, "You got the coordinates?"

"Yes, I'm feeding them to you now." Shelke replied.

"Ok then I suggest everyone hold on to ya assholes." Cid said with a grin on his face and he pointed the craft in the desired direction and headed off towards the horizon.

* * *

It was late in Kumo and in one of the villages training grounds the ninja referred to as Kitsune was running through some drills, the moonlight glinting off his sword and armor. With elegant precession he cut through the invisible enemies that were upon him, despite this outward appearance of the focused warrior his it was betrayed by internal struggle raging on inside him mind. His sword raised above him head Kitsune panted heavily; he'd hoped that this exercise would help him however his thoughts continued to plague him and interfered with his concentration, if this were a real battle he'd be as good as dead.

Sheathing his weapon Kitsune then used Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to teleport away reappearing in the small apartment building that served as his home. The apartment itself wasn't exactly grand but it was liveable, it had three rooms, a living room/kitchen combo with a bathroom with a bathroom off to one side and a bedroom off on the other side. Entering the bedroom Kitsune walked over to his closet and upon opening it reached in and from behind the collection of replacement armor's and shinobi clothing took out a box, inside of it were three items: two shinobi headbands both with a Konoha symbol engraved onto the metal plate, but whilst one was pristine the other had a slash mark running across it, the other was a picture of four people, one adult man and three children who looked around 12/13, all of them wearing ninja headbands.

Kitsune frowned, _'Why, why can't I let you go? I have suffered because of you so why can't I just put you behind me? I owe you nothing however…'_

He then closed the box and placed it on his bed he walked back over to his closet and took out all sorts of items, shurikens kunais shinobi wire sealing scrolls field rations and supplies and finally his travelling cloak. Within an hour his weapon pouches were filled and any additional weapons were sealed along with all supplies as well as the box inside in side various scrolls, _'I'm about to commit treason, I will be considered a traitor and will be hunted down by my comrades and yet I'm about to go through with it anyway.'_

After locking up Kitsune slipped through the streets of Kumo doing his best not to be seen by other ninja's and constantly making sure to avoid any of the villages ANBU as he headed towards the village gates.

"And where do you think you're going?" Kitsune stopped dead in his tracks as a cold from behind him caught his attention and looking behind him saw his teammates, Samui Omoi and Karui, standing on a nearby rooftop, the trio jumped down and came to rest a foot away from Kitsune's position.

"Now what do we have here, going for a midnight stroll fox face." Omoi said in a mock serious tone.

"I don't know, do your walks always involve skulking around avoiding patrols and carrying all the equipment you have?" Karui added, "Looks more like your prepped for a full scale battle."

Kitsune scowled behind his mask, "Back off you three, you don't want to get yourselves involved in this."

"Not involved, you wouldn't happen to be planning to sneak out and head to Konoha would you." Samui said coolly, when Kitsune didn't respond she closed her eyes and gave off a noise of indifference, "I see, I had a feeling you might do something like this. You do know the consequences of sneaking out of here and heading off to an enemy village don't you."

"Guess you were right Samui, guess there's more to you then that S-rank rack of yours." Omoi said in a leering tone which earned him a smack upside the head.

"Now the question remains what to do with you Kitsune, it's not like we can just over look this." Karui said.

"Well it seems we'd better get moving." Samui said firmly, "Even at top speed it will take five days to reach Konoha."

"Heh, sounds like a plan." Omoi added.

"Wait, I told you three not to get involved," Kitsune told the trio, "What you three are talking about is treason. The moment the rest of the villages realizes that your gone you'll be declared nuke nin and they'll send hunter nin after you."

"Kinda like what you're doing." Karui pointed out, Kitsune sighed at this, she had him there.

"So are we heading out or what, I don't want to have spent all this time packing up my gear for nothing." Omoi spoke up.

"Well that all depends on you Kitsune." Samui said firmly.

There was a few seconds of silence before Kitsune finally nodded, "Alright lets head out."

The foursome then made their way towards the village gates and doing their best not to be spotted by the guards before slipping off into the night, they had a long. journey ahead of them and very little time to complete it in.

* * *

AN Hey everybody. This isn't really a new chapter but it does tie into the next part of the story. I was hoping to have this up before Christmas (prefrebly Christmas eve) but it didn't quite pan out that way, still hope you all enjoy this. Think of this as a thank you present to everyone who is invested in their story for your paticence and your support this year.

Before anything else I want to thank Jokerisdaking AKA Joel for his help, I couldn't do this without him. Speaking of which a while back I commented on what I thought about Madara's big plan, well in his responce Jokerisdaking sent me this...

"Ive also been thinking about Madara's master plan. I know you ridiculed it. However it seems to me to be an almost final fantasy style plot. An evil guy is trying to join with an even more evil power in order to control the world. Thats like the plot of half the games! However if the ten tailed beast overwhelmes him and becomes a force of nature intending to destroy the world then thats the plot of the other half of the series lol."

Looking back I do see what he means, and yes Madara trying to join with the Juubi does seem like a plot device from a Final Fantasy game.

Anyway I hope you all had a good Christmas/Hankia/Quanza (and I hope I've spelled those correctly) of whatever you celebrate, you got some nice things, ate some good food and if your over 18 that you don't have too bad of a hang over.

Thats me done, thank you all so much for support this year and may you continue to for however long it takes me to finish this.

I'll see you all in the New Year so until then peace out yo.


	13. Chapter 8

AN  
"Blah"- Normal Speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
_"Blah"_- Memories  
"BLAH"- Jutsu  
**"Blah"**- Summon/Demon

* * *

_Naruto/Final Fantasy VII_  
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 8

Invasion Arc: Part 1

* * *

Before going further I just want to warn you all and tell you that this chapter has not been beta read. I have tried to get in contact with my proof read, Jokerisdaking, several times but have not heard back from him whicn is part of the reason this chapter has been so delayed, if your out there Jole please somehow get in contact with me. With that aside on with the story.

* * *

First light peaked over the mountain that bore the faces of Konoha's former leaders, the village was quiet and still however it was not an easy or serine quietness but one of unease and fear. Kakashi looked out of the window of his office at the view below, his face showing signs of tiredness however sleep had been the furthest thing from his mind. Letting out a groan, seating himself back down at his desk he dipped into once more Tsunade's forgotten stash and instead of pouring himself a saucer he took a swig from the bottle. The events of the previous day were still fresh in his mind and were weighing heavily on him.

* * *

He'd been in a meeting with the council disputing with them on various, and very boring, topics when the sound of commotion and voices was heard from in the corridor outside the council chamber_. 'I wonder what that could be about?'_ The grey haired man had wondered. Moments later the door burst open and in came Jiraiya, the elderly man covered in sweat and panting heavily, as well as the two guards who'd been stationed outside and the woman who was usually stationed at the front desk.

_"Jiraiya, what is the meaning of this intrusion?"_ One of the council members, Hiashi Hyuuga, demanded. Jiraiya didn't even seem to pretend to have heard the Hyuuga representative, the toad sage strolled towards the table which had several glasses and pitchers of water placed upon it, he then poured himself a glass and gulped the liquid down.

_"I beg your forgiveness wide council members."_ The woman said in pleading tone, _"Lord __Jiraiya__ arrived and demanded to see the Hokage; I tried to tell him that he was attending this meeting and you were all busy but he wouldn't listen." _

_"That's fine."_ Kakashi told her, he turned to Jiraiya, _"I hope you have a good reason for bursting into here?"_

_"We got trouble Kakashi,"_ Jiraiya said, _"As of right now we are at war."_

This caught everyone by surprise, _"War, what are you talking about?"_ The Nara clan head, Shikaku Nara, asked. For the next hour Jiriaya told the council about his encounter with Iwa and Kusaga ninja and the information he was able to get out of them as well as the mysterious deaths of members of his spy network and throughout the council had sat in silence_. _

_"This is very troublesome."_ Kakashi said in a grim tone, _"Iwa Kusaga and Oto allied and prepared to attack."_

_"How could Kusaga betray us? We may not have been allies but we were at least on were on good terms with them."_ Ino's father, Inoichi Yamanaka, spoke up.

_"Hmm, it's quite simple when you think about it." _Hiashi, head of the Hyuuga clan, said in a knowing tone.

_"And what would that be you old fart?"_ Tsume, the Inuzuka clan head, demanded.

_"It's obviously a power play on Kusaga's part."_ Hiashi went on ignoring the Inuzuka's comment, _"They obviously that they think they can increase their standing in the shinobi world by partaking in this attack." _

_"Whatever the case its clear Orochimaru made them a better offer."_ Kakashi said, _"As for Iwa, they still hold a grudge against us for the outcome of the last Ninja War. It wouldn't take much for Orochimaru to convince them into an assault against us. However I'm surprised that that snake didn't convince more of the smaller villages into joining in."_

_"Well it would appear that the assassination of the Hoshikage by Kumo was a blessing in disguise."_ Jiraiya added.

_"Ah yes that idiot boy Sumaru, he was a fool to break ties with us after all Konoha did to aid his joke of a village during the incident with their precious star."_ Tsume said, _"Good riddance I say, pity Kumo got there before we could do the job ourselves."_

_"Alright that's enough."_ Kakashi said in a stern tone, he then turned to Jiraiya, _"Now are you absolutely certain of this, I don't want to give the order only to find out it's a false alarm."_

_"I have no doubt about it, the fact they've been targeting my spy network make this a pretty certain thing. Orochimaru wanted to keep us blind and unprepared for an attack."_ Jiraiya said in a grim tone, _"However even after discovering that this I could not be sure, it was only but encountering and engaging that party of Iwa and Kusaga ninja along with Temari and Cloud did I come to an absolute solid conclusion."_

_"And where are they? Why are they not here?" _Hiashi asked.

_"I sent Temari and her genin squad back to Suna to raise the alarm."_ Jiraiya replied, _"As for Cloud, he said he was going to…buy us some time."_

_"But that's preposterous, one man against three whole armies."_ Inoichi spoke up.

_"We have no choice but to believe in him. He maybe a man but he is a man who is part of a group that has challenged gods and demons, a man who fought on equal terms with one of our most dangerous criminals."_ Kakashi said, _"I say we put our trust in him." _

Anything else that may have been said died when Kakashi said this. _"Jiraiya, how much time do we have?"_ Kakashi asked.

_"A week, maybe even less than that."_ The toad sage replied.

Kakashi rose from his seat and turned his focus on the gathered people before him, _"Very well. Gentlemen war has come to our village, let us meet it accordingly." _

_"Put the word out to all inhabitance of this village and tell them to make preparations. Inform all civilians that I want them to be prepared for evacuation within three days that includes academy students and new graduates; they are to gather all necessary provisions and items. In three days all genin will escort them to the shelters where they will stay until told to return. In the meantime send a messenger hawk to all our forces who outside the village and tell them current active missions are cancelled. All clan heads return to your homes and prepare your forces for battle all. First thing tomorrow morning we will return here as a council of war, we have to organize all our chunin's and jounin's into battalions as well as plan our strategy. Until then the ANBU will be place on guard on all key and strategic point throughout the village."_

Kakashi paused for a moment to catch his breath before speaking again, _"That bastard snake believes that he can catch us unawares and take over, let's show him how strong our will of fire burns. Dismissed."_

* * *

Just then a knock at the door was heard bring Kakashi back to the present, after giving the order the door opened to reveal Kurenai. "Hokage-sama, the council is gathered in the meeting room, Lord Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade included, they've awaiting your arrival." She told him.

"I see." Kakashi said as he put the bottle away, "Kurenai, how is your son?"

"He's fine; he's yet to return with the other members of his squad." Kurenai replied, "Hopefully he'll be back soon."

"You know I could order you not to participate in the battle. You could go with him and the other genin's along with the other civilians and protect them as they are evacuated. There's no reason for him to lose both his parents." Kakashi told her.

"No, my place is here. I will stay here and stand alongside my comrades and friends." Kurenia said firmly, "You should go, they're waiting for you."

"Yeah." Kakashi rose from the desk and the pair exited the office.

* * *

In a location somewhere on the border between Hi no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni the master minds behind the Konoha invasion force were gathered in fancy looking room, the snake sannin Orochimaru, a Kusa nin and the Tsuchikage were gathered around a table that had a map of Konoha and the surrounding area spread out over it.

Just then there was a knock at the door and Orochimaru's captain, once more masked to hide his features from the Tsuchikage and the Iwa forces, entered the room, his pale skinned master looked over at him with a sick smirk on his face, "There you are, I was hoping that you'd join us for this meeting."

"I apologize Orochimaru-sama, I felt my place was with the troops." The Oto ninja replied.

The Tsuchikage glared at the masked ninja, "Orochimaru, I do not question your indulgences merely by choice. However this is an important meeting, I do not approve of some lowly grunt to barge in here disturbing us."

Orochimaru turned to the rock kage "I'd watch what I'd say if I were you, do not forget that you are merely here as a formality." He told the bearded man with a hiss, "Your armies have barley been at full strength in years, so I suggest you think twice about speaking ill of my general."

The Tsuchikage grunted, "Tell me solider, what is your name?"

"I have no name Tsuchikage-sama, I am but a shadow in the darkness to serve the will of my master." The ninja replied.

"Howe poetic. Fine then I will give you a name since I'd feel more comfortable calling you something." The Tsuchikage said, "From now on I call you Cassius."

The masked ninja looked over at the snake sannein, "Dose that please you Orochimaru-sama?"

"Cassius, the name of a conspirator who caused the bloody death of an emperor. I like it." Orochimaru said with an amused look on his face, "Very well then, from now on that will be your name. So Cassius, what have you to report?"

"Very good my lords. I have come to tell you that we are almost at full strength my lord, the combined forces of all our villages should be with us by nightfall." Cassius replied.

"Excellent we can move out at first light." The Tsuchikage said, a devious smile spread across his face. Just then there was another knock at the door and Kabuto entered accompanied by three ninja all of who bore Iwa's symbol all of who were looking pretty nervous.

"Sorry to intrude Orochimaru-sama, Tsuchikage-sama however these three have something to tell you."

"My deepest apologies for the intrusion Tsuchikage-sama, but we have urgent news." One of the Iwa ninja said, "It may affect the campaign."

"What are you babbling about?" the Tsuchikage snorted.

"We had met up with the group of were ambushed Kusga ninja we were meant to. Just then we discovered a jounin and three genin from Suna, they had heard us discussing how we to wait for the party from Oto before moving out, we managed to capture them but then we were attacked by a man with spiky blond hair and had a big sword. He was a powerful however we managed to overpower him however we were ambushed by Jiraiya of the sannien." Said the second.

"You what!!!" the Tsuchikage spat, "What did you fools tell him?"

"N…nothing Tsuchikage-sama, we did our best to hold him off but those weak Kusaga ninja told him everything." The first Iwa ninja said, "Now both Konoha and Suna know about the invasion."

"You incompetents." The Tsuchikage roared, "I should kill you all right now."

Just then Orochimaru began chuckling which halted the bearded man's action, "May I ask what's so funny?"

"So Konoha is aware of our little scheme now, oh well can't be helped." Orochimaru said offhandedly.

"What, how can you be so calm about this?" the Tsuchikage demanded, "Konoha will now be on high alert and no doubt Suna will mobilize its forces to aid them."

"Will you relax; we wouldn't want you to have a heart attack now would we." Orochimaru said in a tone that infuriated the Iwa kage, he then turned to Kabuto, "Tell me how long will it take for Suna to come to Konoha's aid?"

"I suspect it will take at least five days Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied, "Even if they have been alerted Suna will still need time to prepare and organize themselves and let's not forget even at top speed it's a three day journey from Suna to Konoha."

"You see Tsuchikage, we have precious little to worry about. In the same time it will take Suna's forces to reach Konoha ours will already have arrived, set up and begun our attack." Orochimaru told the bearded man.

"Yes, I suppose that's true." The elder man said, his temper soothed somewhat.

"And what of this blond swordsman, what should be done about him?" Cassius asked.

"What of him, he is but one man. What could he possibly do to stop us." The Tsuchikage snorted, "If he tries to interfere with the battle I'll personally crush his head."

"So it's agreed, we stick to the plan and move out at first light." Orochimaru said in cool tone.

* * *

Far away Temari and her squad was bounding towards their home village of Sunagakure no sato, despite the desert heat being hard on their amphibian steed it nether the less carried on and by nightfall the outer walls of the city were insight. The instant they were inside she dismissed her students and the toad, who vanished in a puff of smoke, and wasted no time in making a beeline straight for the large tower that overlooked the city where her brother the Kazekage was located.

Garra had been surprised when the door to his office opened and his sister burst in as he'd not expected to see her for at least another week. However he could tell from her heavy breathing and demeanour that something was wrong.

"Temari, what are you doing back here so soon?" he listened patiently as she told him everything that happened during her encounter with the Iwa and Kusaga ninja the frown on his face growing deeper as he did.

"Coyot, Vulture." He said and two ANBU's appeared instantly beside his desk, "Rouse the council and Kankurou, and tell them that I want to see them in the council chamber immediately. After that spread word to our military forces, tell them I want them prepped and combat ready as soon as possible."

"Hai Kazekage-sama." The two men said before vanishing into thin air. That done he took out a scroll and scribbled something on it and handed it to Temari, "Go to the top of the tower and attach this to out fastest messenger hawk, it needs to get to Konoha as soon as possible. Once that's done join me in the council chamber."

Despite how tired she was Temari nodded and accepted the scroll from him and headed straight for the top of the tower where the messenger birds were located, after giving the scroll to one of the birds and sending it on its way she headed straight from the council chamber where her brothers and the heads of each of the villages clans were waiting for her.

After telling them what she'd told her brother the council deliberated amongst themselves although the outcome was never in doubt, Suna would go and aid its allies and with the military already being prepared for deployment it would hopefully be soon.

Garra bore no illusion; he knew that the enemy had a major advantage over both Suna and Konha, not only in numbers but also had time on their side and would utilise it to its fullest. He'd just have to hope that Kakashi and his forces could find a way to hold off the combined Oto Iwa Kusaga forces long enough for his troops to arrive.

The meeting quickly adjourned, the respective parties heading back to their homes as come first light they'd be preparing to organize their forces. Garra and his siblings walked in silence as they headed back towards the Kazekage's estate, as they did Garra glanced over at his female sibling he could tell from her demeanour that something was bothering her.

"You worried about something." He said in a firm tone catching her attention, "Worried about Konoha."

"Or maybe a certain someone in Konoha." Kankuro said in a teasing tone.

"Shut up." Temari snapped at her makeup wearing sibling, she then looked over at her red haired brother, "It's just you know that we won't be there when the battle starts, do you really think the leaf can hold off such a large force until we arrive?"

"The odds are stacked against them, however if there is one thing I have learned is to never underestimate the spirit of a leaf ninja when he's defending that which is precious to him." Garra told her, for an instant he was an early teen again lying on his back in the middle of a large group of tree's whilst a certain blond genin clad in a neon orange jump suit was using whatever strength he had left to drag himself towards him, _'Naruto, you taught me that lesson. And for teaching it to me I will use all my power to protect that which is precious to you.'_

Both Temari and Kankuro stared at him; no words were needed to know what their brother was thinking. Garra then offered Temari a small smile, "Don't worry, they'll find a way." Nothing more was said, nothing needed to be.

* * *

Far away Kitsune and his followers, Samuri Omoi and Karui, were making their way across the lands of Sora no Kuni; they'd crossed the border of Kaminari no Kuni into Yama no Kuni several days ago and, their pace was maintained would be at the border to Hi no Kuni by nightfall. After a few hours the foursome stopped in a clearing of one of the countries forest to catch their breath.

"Ok we'll rest here for a few moments before moving on." Kitsune told the others who had reclined themselves on the ground, he then reached into his cloak and took out his water cask to take a drink from it only to discover it was empty, "Damn."

"Looks like you're out." Omi commented.

"Wow, you figure that out all by yourself." Karui snorted.

"You say something bitch." Omoi retorted.

"What did you just call me?" Karui growled as she prepared to draw her sword.

"Shut up the pair of you." Samuri snapped.

"Thank you." Kitsune said as he drew some blood from his thumb with a kunai, he then smeared it on his hand, flipped through several seals and slammed both his palms onto the ground, "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU! Summoning Technique!"

There was a puff of smoke and a black furred wolf that came up to Kitsune's chest wearing samurai shoulder armor and a helmet on its head and a scabbard strapped to its appeared hip. **"What do you want?"** the wolf snarled.

"Geez Remus, why are you like this every time I see you?" Kitsune asked.

**"It's that smell on you, I despise it so."** The wolf, identified as Remus, retorted.

"Whatever, I have a job for you." Kitsune said as he held his water cask to the summon.

**"You called me here for this, is that what I have been reduced to a mere sniffer dog."** Remus snarled, never the less he sniffed the leather container and put his nose to the ground.

"Find anything?" Kitsune asked.

**"There's a small stream about 200 meters south of here."** Remus replied.

"Right lead the way." Kitsune told the creature who snarled at him.

**"Why the hell should I?"** the black wolf demanded.

"Why, you not up to it? And I thought you were the pack's best tracker, maybe next time I should just go ahead and call your brother up." Kitsune said in a mocking tone which earned him another snarl.

**"Fine let's go."** Remus snapped.

Kitsune let out a chuckle before the pair of them leapt up into the trees. Samuri shook her head as the two vanished. Leaping through the trees Kitsune and Remus arrived at the stream very quickly and Kitsune set to work with filling his water cask.

"Well well well, look at who we got here." A voice was heard causing Kitsune's head to snap up and looking up Kitsune saw a party of five ninja standing on several branches, the metal plates on their headbands bore a star symbol indicating they were Hoshi ninja.

"What do you want?" he demanded whist Remus began snarling.

"I never thought it possible but in here of all places we've found you murderer." The lead Hoshi nin snarled.

"You're going to pay for what you did." Another said.

"And what was that exactly." Kitsune said in a bored tone.

"Shut up, don't play dumb." a third said, "You killed our Hoshikage in cold blood."

"Oh yeah I did didn't I." Kitsune replied.

"You monster, the Hoshikage was going to make our village power. Strong enough to challenge the five great nations, but that died when you killed him." the lead Hoshi ninja spoke up again.

"I did you a favour. Your Hoshikage was a weak minded idiot who tried to get into bed with men who would have made your village even more of a joke then it already is." Kitsune stated as he drew both his weapons.

"KUJAKU MYOHO! Mysterious Peacock Method!" All five of them cried and purple aura appeared from the base of their spines in a shape that kinda resembled a peacock's tail. Both Kitsune and Remus braced themselves as they knew what was next.

"KAJUKU MYOHO: KEMONO! Mysterious Peacock Method: Beast!" The chakra 'feathers' that were flowing from behind the Hoshi ninja's backs changed to the form of a animal, a couple of dogs and even a hawk, rushed towards them.

Gritting his teeth Kitsune flipped through seals, "SUITON: SUIRYUDAN NO JUTSU! Water Dragon Projectile Technique!" The water from the stream behind him rose up taking the form of a Technique takes the form of a giant dragon. The water dragon clashed with the Kajku beast creating a large bust of water, when it cleared both Kitsune and Remus were gone.

"Damnit, they're gone. That suiton jutsu was just a diversion." The lead Hoshi ninja growled as he looked about, "Where is he?" Just then there was a rustle in the tree's behind them. The Hoshi ninja sent his Kajku beast into the tree only to find nothing, just then several Kitsune's emerged from the branches above them.

"Bushin's, like that will fool me." The lead ninja scoffed, "KUJKAKU MYOHO: ZAN! Mysterious Peacock Method: Destroy!" the 'feathers' on the Hoshi ninja's backs flared impaling each of the clones.

"Too easy." The ninja scoffed, his gloating was cut short when one of his men was somehow thrown off the branch. The instant the ninja hit the ground Remus's head and upper torso emerged grabbing the ninja by the leg and dragging him back into the hole which barely muffled his terrified screams.

"What the…, how'd he do that?" the Hoshi ninja demanded. Just then part bark from the tree fell away and Kitsune stepped out onto the branch where the leader of the Hoshi ninja was standing on, the bark actually being the Kumon ninja's cloak.

"You…KAJUKU MYOHO: KEMONO! Mysterious Peacock Method: Beast!" He once again ordered his Kajuku hawk to attack Kitsune. "FUUTON: DAIYOPPA! Great Breakthrough!" As it attacked Kitsune charged his sword up with wind chakra and swinging it created a large bust of it powerful enough to knock the chakra creature back, he then lunged at the Hoshi ninja who tried to block his attack with a kunai. "You bastard, you'll pay for what did." The Hoshi nin growled. "If I had a Ryo for every time I've heard that." Kitsune retorted before planting his foot in the ninja's gut, "Anytime you're ready Remus."

**"DOTON: ISSEN HANPNE ZA URUFU NO JUTSU! One Thousand Fangs of the Wolf!"** the ground began to shake a giant wolf's head made of rock and dirt rose from the ground, it latched its jaws around the tree and dragged it down as it retreated. All five ninja leapt from the tree, Remus emerging at Kitsune's side. "Bastard…" one of the Hoshi ninja snarled.

"You might want to change the record; I think that one's scratched." Kitsune taunted. "Mock us all you want, we still outnumber you." A second Hoshi ninja growled. "Really, I think Remus and I can rectify that." Kitsune said as he made a one handed seal, at the same time Remus's tail began to shake and sway quickly. "TAJUU KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU! Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" **"DOTON: ISHI URUFU BUSHIN NO JUTSU! Stone Wolf Clone Technique!"** there was a burst of smoke and a dozen Kitsunes and Remus's came into existence.

"KUJKAKU MYOHO: ZAN! Mysterious Peacock Method: Destroy!" all four Hoshi ninja cried using the 'feathers' on their backs to destroy as many of the clones as they could as they charged at them. Kitsune and Remus's used their blades to repel the Hoshi ninja's Kajuku beasts as best they could.

"KUJKAKU MYOHO CHAKRA NO NAWA! - Mysterious Peacock Method: Chakra Rope!" the lead ninja cried as he extend his out to form ropes, these wound around Kitsune and dragged the masked ninja towards him.

"Your mine now monster, you'll pay for what you did and don't think your little sword tricks can save you, these chakra ropes are uncuttable." the lead ninja said as Kitsune got closer, he then grabbed Kitsune by his long blond locks and plunged a kunai into his throat, "Die!!!" however instead of a fountain of blood Kitsune disappeared in a puff of smoke. "What, a clone?"

Just then a swirl of leaves appeared behind the Hoshi ninja. "KAJUKU MYOHO: KEMONO! Mysterious Peacock Method: Beast!" the Hoshi ninja cried channelling all his chakra into his Kajuku hawk making it the size of a small light aircraft.

Kitsune flipped through more seals, "FUUTON: FUUIRYUDAN NO JUTSU! Wind Dragon Projectile Technique!" The air pressure grew heavier and the a tornado formed around Kitsune kicking up debris from the ground and like its suiton equivalent took the form of a large dragon, with a cry both ninja urged their chakra creatures into battle colliding with one another. The dragon's head struck the chakra hawk in the chest causing it to let out a cry before beginning to rake at it with its talons.

From an outside perspective it would seem that both creatures seemed evenly matched but then again I'm sure your all aware of the saying about first impressions, Kitsune poured more chakra into with jutsu and dragon ripped through the hawk and engulfed the Hoshi ninja the intensity of the wind pressure cutting into him like knives and ripped him apart.

Meanwhile Kitsune was breathing heavily; not that fighting opponents of such level were a problem however the strain from of augmenting his body with chakra for nonstop travelling atop of reparative use of high rank jutsu was catching up with him.

The remaining Hoshi ninja spotted this and mistakenly thought that Kitsune was beginning to tire, fortunately they were to be speared for their miscalculation.

"What's going on here?" A cold voice rang out, all heads looked round and saw Samuri Omoi and Karui standing on the branch of a nearby tree all of whom were looking rather ticked off.

"Crap, he's got reinforcements." One of the Hoshi ninja swore, he then glared at Kitsune, "This isn't over monster, our Hoshikage will be avenged."

All of three them then vanished in a blink of an eye. With a sigh both Kitsune and Remus dispelled their remaining clones.

Samui and the others leapt down and approached as Kitsune sheathed his weapons. "What was that all about?" Samui asked. "Hogging all the fun again that's what." Omoi snorted but his teammates just ignored him.

"Oh just some pussy Hoshi ninja, apparently their entire village is still pissed off because I killed their wannabe kage." Kitsune replied off handily.

"Oh is that all." Karui said, "Oh well no big deal." Just then there was a grunt and looking down the foursome saw Remus who was at Kitsune's side.

"Thanks Remus, you've been a big help." Kitsune told the summon who just let out a 'hmph' in reply.

**"Whatever, just remember that you owe me for this."** The black wolf told his summoner. "Don't worry about it, you can just stick in on the tab." Kitsune assured him, "Once I've finished my business with Konoha I promise to pay my debt in full."

**"You'd better, just remember I'm gonna be holding you to that."** The black wolf growled before vanishing in a puff of smoke. Shaking his head Kitsune walked back over to the stream to complete the task he'd come to do here in the first place and filled his water cask to the brim.

Karui then handed the masked ninja his cloak who began checking it for damage, "Don't worry, its fine." She assured him. Throwing the material over himself and the foursome set off once more.

* * *

Several days past and the atmosphere of apprehension that hung over Konoha had failed to dissipate, the evacuation of all non military personnel had gone off without a hitch and now only the village's ninja forces remained waiting for moment to be called into action.

Kakashi stood before the memorial stone his eyes fixed upon it blocking out everything else. "Well Obito, this is it. Who knows maybe we'll be seeing one another before it all ends." There was a moment of pause as if expecting an answer from the inanimate object. "I wonder what you'd think of me if you could see me now, who'd have ever thought back then I'd be in these robes." Kakashi let out a mirthless chuckle.

Just then a cry was heard and a large bird alighted on the stone, the silver haired kage quickly noticing the scroll that was tied to its leg. After relieving the bird of its burden Kakaski watched as the creature spread its wings and flew away, once it was out of sight he turned his focus back to the stone, "I have to go now, Hokage business. I'll see you again soon."

And then in a flurry of leaves Kakashi was gone and reappeared in his office where he found Kurenai sitting behind his desk and was surprised when he threw the scroll to her. Confused Kurenai opened it and a grim expression spread across her face, "They're here."

"Yes, It's a field report from Lee and Hinata." Kakashi told her, "They've spotted the enemy making camp several miles north of village and are headed back."

"When do you think the attack will come?" Kurenai asked.

"I don't know, however I don't plan on being caught unawares."

In a blink of an eye a trio of ANBU had appeared before the silver haired kage, "Alert our forces, I want them to ready to deploy at first light."

"Hai." The three ninja said before they vanished again.

* * *

Far from Konoha Orochimaru the Tsuchikage and the representative of the Kusaga military were gathered over a map of Konoha and the surrounding area. "So we are in agreement, Iwa and Kusaga's armies will take the main gate drawing the main part of Konoha's forces. That should be enough to allow my Oto forces will take the west gate, once inside we can take slaughter their forces." Orochimaru said.

"Hmmm! I'd rather see my army take the main gate single handed but I guess as long as Konoha is ground beneath my heel then so be it." The Tsuchikage grunted.

"My forces are prepared and willing to do our part." The Kusaga ninja added.

"Very well then, we move at first light then." The snake sannien said a gleeful smirk on his face.

The two men nodded before vanishing leaving Orochimaru by himself. Tomorrow could not come soon enough, His previous assault on Knonoha may have failure but this time he would succeed.

"_Where tree leaves dance one shall find flames. The fires shadow will illuminate the village and once again tree leaves shall bud anew."_ The dying words of his departed sensei came to him, for an instant a look of remorse spread across the pale man's face but this died quickly and was replaces by a cruel smirk accompanied by an even cruller chuckle.

"May I ask what is so funny?" a voice caught Orochimaru's attention and looking round saw Kabuto and Cassius waiting for him. "It nothing, merely the words of a dying old man." The snake user replied, "Is everything in order?"

"Hai, everything is ready. It merely awaits your command." Cassius said in his typical monotone manner.

Letting out another chuckle Orochimaru went over to a deck where a glass and bottle set on a tray were located, after pouring the liquid contained within he raised his glass, "The die is cast then, the board is set and pieces are in place. All is left is the end game itself. Gentlemen to the destruction of Konoha, come morning 'the fire that illuminates the village will be put out forever'." Orochimaru spoke.

* * *

Ski let out a sigh as he stared up at the empty sky, not a cloud a bird nor a breath of wind, it was far too still for his liking. Looking over he looked at the convoy of people that he and his fellow genin were escorting to the temporary safe house located many miles from the village, young children clung to their parents whilst the elderly had been loaded onto wagons, all carried an air of desperation amongst them wondering if they'd ever see their homes and loved one again.

Whilst he's been given strict orders from both Kakashi-jisan and Bushy Brow-sensei the idea of having to evacuate didn't sit well with him, maybe it was just the memories of when his family was killed that made him not want others to go through the same thing.

Scanning the group he saw his sister who had a scowl on her face, clearly even more unhappy about being here and not back in the village then he was. The almost complete massacre of their clan had affected her more than it had him, even before then back then she had been a rather distant for other people outside of their immediate family (and the superiority complex that she'd developed because of it hadn't helped) but after that day she'd become even colder and distant then before. At a young age Suki had been heralded as a child prodigy as well as a genius, the golden child in the eyes of the family their parents and lavished their love and attention upon her.

Despite being older Ski however it was if they gave up on him and focused all their efforts and energies on her whilst Ski had been pushed aside as he couldn't live up to the clan's expectations, the only family members that had acknowledged his existence had been his grandparents.

"Ski nii-san!!!" the sound of his name being called caught Ski's attention and looking about saw Yui Hyuuga run towards him before wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Hey there nee-chan." Ski greeted the Hyuuga girl, "Shouldn't you be with your mom?"

"She's with the rest of the clan talking about boring stuff." The small girl pouted, "Their no fun."

Ski smiled, "So you thought you'd come find me, still you shouldn't have run off. I bet she's worried about you. KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU! Shadow Clone Technique!"

The boy formed a hand sign and in a puff of smoke a perfect copy of the ebony haired prankster appeared. "OK, you stay here whilst I take Suki back to her mother as he lifted the small girl onto his back." Ski told the clone.

"Hai." The clone replied. Ski took off with Yui on his back weaving in and out of the crowds of people looking for any glimpse of the bun haired kunoichi.

"Nii-san, are you worried?" Yui asked.

"What about?" Ski asked.

"About the village, something bad's gonna happen isn't it?" Yui said as she gripped Ski's shirt tighter.

"Don't worry, no matter what Hokage-ji-san won't let anything happen to it." Ski said in a reassuring tone, "Besides your dad's still there and your mom would be majorly pissed if the village got taken over on his watch."

A smile formed on Yui's face, "Yeah, Otou-san won't allow anything bad to happen to the village." She cheered, "Besides if anything bad happens you'll go and save the village single handed, right Nii-san cos you're a super hero ninja."

"Wow you're smart, you figured out my secret identity." Ski joked.

Eventually the pair spotted Tenten "Kaa-san, Kaa-san." Yui cried out. Tenten looked over in their direction and saw her daughter riding on the back of the ebony haired genin who bounded over to her.

With a look of relief Tenten lifter her daughter off of Ski's back back embraced her, "Yui, don't ever do that again." She then looked over at Ski, "Thank you."

"No prob." Ski replied his cheerful expression then vanished, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Tenten replied, despite her tone Ski knew that the situation was really bugging the older kuniochi maybe even more then himself and Suki.

* * *

The sun rose over the Hokage monument but even its warm rays could not break the feeling of that had gripped the village. Before the sun had even risen the village's ninja had taken up their positions. At the villages main gate was stationed was Iruka Lee and Kiba who were under the command of Gai as well as Neji and a squad on ANBU. At the west gate Ino Chouji Hinata Anko and Kurenai who would be under the command of Yamato.

At the villages centre was a strategic post where Shikamaru and several others along with Shino and several others from the Aburame clan, it would be their job to use their destruction bugs to relay messages to the other divisions stationed at both gates and throughout the village.

Also several facilities including the ninja academy had been converted to handle the incoming wounded, no one wanted to think about the incoming wounded they would receive Shizune would be in charge of the hospital whilst Sakura was stationed at the academy along with Sai.

Elsewhere Kakashi was sitting other the head of his teacher overlooking the village, next to him was an empty cup of instant ramen. Without a word he got to his feet and looking round he saw Tsunade and Jiraiya, Tsunade was clad in the traditional blue grab of the villages ninja complete with chuunin's vest whilst Jiraiya was wearing his usual robes.

Kakashi grabbed the traditional garbs and pulling them off revealing himself to be clad in his old ANBU uniform complete with sword. Just then the cry of a hawk from overhead was heard and the three of them stepped out on the head of the Yondaime.

"Its time." Kakashi said. Both of the elder nin's nodded before vanishing in a swirl of leaves, as they did the forces stationed at the main gate got their first sight of the enemy.

* * *

AN I'm sorry its been a while since the last post, several factors have contributed to the delay of this post, a) I picked up Pokemon HeartGold and have spent the majority of my time playing that, b) I've gotten into watching Kamen Rider Kabuto as well as a little bit of Double and finally c) the latest chapters of the manga just seemed to sap any enthusiasm and creativity I had and after chapter 482 I was so tempted just to quit writing this because I didn't want to work on anything that was linked in any way to that steaming turd.

We've hit a low people, you can usually tell cos Sasuke has shown up as he can always be counted on to bring the story to a screeching halt.

There are times I wish I wasn't so invested in Naruto, I wish I could lose interest in it like I did with One Piece and just stop reading (yes everyone I did at one point read One Piece but I just got bored with the series).

Chapter 489- the ending had me thinking that Kabuto and the zombie Akatsuki members were gonna reveal they were all wearing a Black Lantern rings and start chanting…

"_The Blackest Night falls from the skies, The darkness grows as all light dies, We crave your hearts and your demise, By my black hand--The dead shall rise!_"

Seriously this could easily turn into Blackest Night now that Kabuto has supposedly perfected Orochimaru's resurrection jutsu and when you think about all the characters who have died over the course of the series.

Chapter 492- We've got Naruto trying to master his demon chakra and Kishimoto has resorted to ripping off The Empire Strikes Back, but then again there are worse to rip off.

And if nothing else thanks to Sasuke's fight with Danzo we can at least reafirm that the true translation of Sharingan is Deus ex Machina. Here's part of the Narutopedia entry on Sasuke's new ability. "Izanagi is activated, it is capable of turning injuries and even death inflicted upon the user into mere illusions." Oh god, ow...ow...it hurts. Forget Tsukuyomi and Susanoo we have witnessed the Sharingan's true ultimate technique: Plot convenience.

And finally what the hell is up with Sakura, I swear its like Kishimoto doesn't know what to do with her character. One moments she seems strong and firm with her covictions then the next she's totally hapless.

I'm sorry, the way the story is progressing just really rubs the wrong way. I hate Sasuke, he's an unnessasary character who should have been killed off long ago but Kishimoto has deluded himself into believeing is important. I hate Madara, he sucks at being a villiain. I what they're doing with Sakura and how Kishi is just flip flopping on her character, most of the chapters since the start of the year have contain layers upon layers of stupid.

I'm done, it all kicks off next time. See you all then.


	14. Chapter 9

AN  
"Blah"- Normal Speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
"BLAH"- Jutsu  
**"Blah"**- Demon/Summon

* * *

_Naruto/Final Fantasy VII_  
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 9

Invasion Arc: Part 2

The early morning mist was beginning to lift as the sun's rays began to burn away the remaining traces of the coolness of the previous night. Cloud had spent most of the previous night riding as he thundered through the landscape in an attempt to reach Konoha, stopping off briefly in a small town where he learned that the village was under siege. He was now about two hours away now and the landscape had changed from mostly farmland and open grassland to rough terrain with patches of trees and was becoming thicker.

Soon he would be in the forest that surrounding Konoha and would no doubt encounter heavy resistance from the invading forces, Oto Iwa and Kusaga if he remembered correctly. Soon enough Cloud was riding was amongst the trees; just then something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Looking up into the tree line Cloud saw four shadowy figures leaping from one branch to another.

_'Definitely ninja, 4 stragglers maybe.' _With the touch of a button the doors on the front of the bike opened up revealing a stash of different kinds of blades and Cloud pulled out First Tsurugi and inserted a fire materia orb into one the slots on the main piece, magic energy became infused with the blade. With a swing Cloud released a wave of fiery energy from his weapon striking one of the trees setting it ablaze.

Kitsune and his team had been travelling almost none stop since crossing the border into Hi no Kuni, like all masters of their art they'd done their best to avoid attracting attention to themselves by avoiding towns and the main roads since the last thing they wanted to do was for their presence to cause any more tension between Konoha and Kumo. It had been around 6:00 am when they entered this forest meaning Konoha itself was only a few hours away now and no doubt the combined Oto/Iwa/Kusaga attack had been going on for a day now. Like all ninja the four Kumo ninja were leaping through the treetops rather on than the ground, because a) it was quicker and b) doing so was rather cool.

Kitsune was about leap to the next tree branch when something struck it and it burst in to flames, looking down on the ground he noticed a man with blond hair and clad in black sitting atop a black contraption and wielding a large sword, "Well well, what do we have here?" Cloud brought Fenir to a halt as the four ninja leapt down from the trees and stood before him, whilst all four of them had headbands that bore symbols that he wasn't familiar with it didn't mean that they weren't an enemy, it wasn't uncommon for the leaders of invading forces to hire mercenaries to bolster their forces (and serve as cannon fodder).

Getting off Fenir Cloud readied his weapon as he glared at the foursome, "Who are you?" he demanded.

"I think that's our line." Kauri retorted as she and her companions matched the blond swordsman by drawing their own weapons, the masked member running his index and pointer finger of his left hand along the blade of his sword.

"This way leads to Konoha; you have some kind of business with there?" Cloud said as he gripped the handle of his weapon.

"Maybe, since you're heading the same way I assume you have business there to?" Samuri replied coolly.

"Well whatever it is I suggest you forget about it." Cloud growled, he swung his fire enhanced blade and fired Blade Beam at the four ninja.

Whilst Samui Omoi and Kauri dodged to the side Kitsune leapt over the attack and charged Cloud weapons at the ready. The sound of striking metal rang out throughout the area as the two engaged one another their swords giving off sparks as they connected. Cloud unleashed a mighty swing of his weapon aimed at Kitsune's head when the masked ninja leapt backwards to avoid it, as he did his right hand began giving off an aura that spread up and coiled around the blade of his sword, "FUUTON: DAITOPPA! Great Breakthrough!"

With a swing of his sword Kitsune unleashed a powerful blast of wind, seeing the attack Cloud instantly plunged First Tsurugi into the ground and held on for dear life as the wind buffered him and levelled several tree's behind him. however before he could pull his sword out once the wind died down Omoi and Kauri were upon him and Cloud was forced to roll out of the way of their attack, quickly getting back to his feet Cloud did his best to stay ahead of the two and avoid their attacks, whilst this was going to Samui had drawn an kunai and was approaching Cloud from behind but to her surprise Cloud grabbed a hold of her arm before she could drive the weapon into his back, spun her around and threw her into Omoi which gave him the opportunity to retrieve First Tsurugi and he was forced to use it as Kitsune moved in swiftly and made to strike at him.

"Who are you, why are you headed towards Konoha?" Cloud demanded.

"I have business there, that's all you need to know." Kitsune retorted.

"If it involves killing its inhabitancies they you better forget about making any plans, you and your companions won't be leaving here alive." Cloud said in a hard tone, just then to his surprise Kitsune jumped backwards and landed out of range of his sword where he sheathed his weapons.

"Stop!" the masked man commanded, Omoi and Kauri were about to attack Cloud again, and his companions stopped I their tracks, "Tell me friend, what business do you have in Leaf?"

Cloud glared at the masked swordsman, his hands gripped the handle of his weapon and he held it in anticipation of an attack as images of Aerith and Zack filled his mind, "I'm going there to prevent death."

"Then we have something in common then." Kitsune said, "Come we've wasted enough time here, that snake-teme's attack has going on for a day now and the more time we waste here the higher casualty list for Konoha will be."

Surprised Cloud watched as Kitsune Samuri Kauri and Omoi leapt back into the tree line and bound away, sheathing his sword he dashed back over to Fenir, kicked started it into life and drove after the four ninja.

* * *

Far away the second day of the combine Oto Iwa and Kusaga campaign was about to get underway. Neji and his ANBU ninja were amongst those that were stationed at the front gate, the Hyuuga captain was using his Byakugan watching and waiting for any sign of the enemy. They had managed to survive the previous days encounter with little to no casualties on their side. Neji was no fool though he knew that yesterdays 'battle' had been nothing more than a few skirmish, no doubt the enemy was testing their defences.

However it was the lack of any Oto ninja amongst them that had the Hyuuga worried, if he were a betting man he'd stake a large amount of Ryo that Orochimaru had something up his sleeve by holding his forces back. It was then something in the sky caught his eye.

"INCOMING!" he cried out, seconds later a large boulder soared overhead and smashed into one the buildings.

The gathered ninja took cover as more rocks fell from the sky, some of them hit more of the buildings some struck the wall that surrounded the city whilst others fell short of their mark. After what seemed like an eternity the rain of rocks ceased however the Konoha forces knew it was foolish to think that they could breath easy for soon the combined armies of Iwa and Kusaga were upon them and they were forced to fight for their lives.

Iwa assaulted them with Doton based techniques whilst the Kusaga forces focused on weapon based combat. Neji was surrounded by several Kusaga ninja who were baring down on him with their weapons, "HAKKE ROKUJUUYONSHOW! Eight Divination Signs, Sixty-Four Palms of the Hand!" His hands tingling with chakra Neji unleashed one of his clans Taijutsu striking out at their tenketsu.

"HAKKESHOU KAITEN! Eight Divination Palms of the Hand, Heavenly Spin!" once he'd used his first technique to seal away his opponent's chakra Neji began spinning whilst released a burst of chakra from his tenketsu creating a whirling vortex that knocked the enemy to the ground whilst also nullifying any remaining attackers that he might of missed with his Hakke Rokujuuyonshow.

Elsewhere both Gai and Lee was also doing their best to repel the advancing Iwa/Kusaga forces although they were being more vocal about it then most of the others they were stationed with. "YOSH!" Lee yelled as he knocked another Iwa ninja in his ass, "Gai-sensei, that's five enemies I have beaten already."

"Nice work Lee, however you'll have to do a lot better than that. I've already up to nine." Gai told his former pupil, "Remember Lee, the one who has the least number of kills at the end of this has to 900 press ups whilst drinking a glass of water and reciting Shakespeare."

"Ha, only 900. I could do 9,000 press ups." Lee said as he ducked under a Kusaga ninja's blade before delivering a vicious uppercut to his chest.

"Ha ha, that's what I like to hear. Your flames of youth are just as bright as ever Lee." Gai chuckles as he delivered a 5 hit combo to one of his opponents.

On another section of the battlefield Kiba and several other members of the Inuzuka clan were also engaged in heavy combat only they were they were targeting the Iwa ninja, "Akamaru, lets finish this quickly. I'm sure those pups in the kennels are going nuts without daddy being around to keep them in line. JUJIN BUSHIN!" A feral looking Kiba called out to his canine partner and in a puff of smoke the monster of a dog transformed into a perfect copy of his master complete with ANBU gear.

"GATSUUGA! Dual Piercing Fang!" The two initiated a spinning attack followed by their clan members and used the technique to plough through the Iwa ranks decimating a large number of them.

* * *

On the other side of the village the other battalion of Konoha ninja located at the villages west gate waited in anticipation, the sounds of battle at the main gates filling their ears wasn't helping the matter. So far they had seen no action, and the noise of it elsewhere was driving many of them crazy, many wanted to relocate to the main gate and help out there however their commander, Yamato, had told them to stay put.

Yamato himself was having Hinata scan at the large expanse of forest that stretched out before them with her Byakugan, he knew that if there was anywhere the village was most venerable to attack it was here since the trees made for decent cover however made large scale fighting within it very difficult.

Behind the lines Chouji was taking the time to observe the troops that he'd been stationed with, like them he too was feeling antsy from the lack of action on their front however he was prepared to trust Yamato's judgement not to relocate.

Yamato looked over at Hinata, "Anything?" He asked.

"Nothing." she replied, just then something in the corner of her vision caught her attention, "Wait, I think I can see something moving in there."

Yamato's features hardened, "Get back to the others, were gonna have some company very soon."

Hinata nodded before vanishing. Yamato gave another glance at the forest before returning to the other troops. Not far away several dozen eyes were watching as Yamato and Hinata disappeared.

"It seems that we've been discovered." Kabuto told his paled skinned master.

"Oh well, can't be helped. They were going to be noticed eventually." Orochimaru replied, "It seems the jutsu only works for masking the chakra signature of large groups rather than individual signatures." The snake user turned to Cassius who'd appeared at his side, "Tell me, how's the assault on the front gate going?"

"The Iwa and Kusaga have the Konoha forces pinned down." Cassius replied.

"It seems that the cannon fodder is doing their part." Kabuto said offhandedly, "Well I guess we should do ours as well."

"Agreed, let's get underway." Orochimaru said. A call went out and the Oto forces began making their way towards the village walls.

Back with the Konoha forces they had sighted the advances Oto forces and were preparing to engage them.

"Alright, everyone here they come." Yamato said as he watched the Oto forces from atop the village wall, "Group 1, take your positions." A dozen ninja appeared, six either side of the former ANBU, and began hurling shuriken as several enemy forces began trying to scale the walls. The star shaped weapons flew through the air hitting several Oto ninja knocking them off the wall and either killing them causing them falling to their deaths.

_'Were holding our position well, so why do I have a bad feeling about all this?'_ Yamato grimaced, _'I can't really be this easy, not with Orochimaru involved?'_ Just then a look of horror spread across his face, "EVERYONE FALL BACK, GET AWAY FROM THE WALL!"

Everyone started at their commander in surprise, _'What's he mean, we're holding them back aren't we?'_ Hinata wondered, activating her Byakugan she looked down and saw a large number of the Oto forces were radiating with large amounts of chakra, "DO AS HE SAY'S, EVERYBODY BACK!"

Down below several Oto ninja had positioned themselves at the base of the wall and were planting exploding tags on it whilst the comrades above provided cover for them. Further back Orochimaru was watching with Kabuto and Cassius as events unfolded.

"It appears that the destruction team has done its job." Kabuto commented.

"Excellent. Give the order to proceed to the next stage." Orochimaru told his underling.

"Hai." Kabuto pressed the button on the radio he had attached round his neck, "Begin the next phase."

"Hai Kabuto-sama." One of the ninja said. The ninja at the base of the wall then began moulding chakra which in turn activated the exploding tags creating a large explosion which rocked the area in a large burst of light and dust, the Konoha forces were forced to fall back so not to be crushed by falling debris.

With part of the wall now destroyed the Oto forces now had a way advanced and for the first time Yamato could see what they were up against. The Oto army was comprised of different body types, amongst the ones of regular build were others who were shorter and skinnier and no doubt quite lithe, no doubt specialising in quick combat whilst others were large hulking monstrosities of muscle built for endurance and over powering the enemy.

_'That damn snake, he's no doubt been experimenting on his soldiers to modify them.'_ Yamato growled as he prepared to engage the enemy.

* * *

From his position at the strategy post Shikamaru watched as reports from the field came in, and things looked grim. The combined Iwa and Kusaga forces assault on the main gate had begun, which had starting out with heavy bombardment of catapult and earth jutsu, and had caused heavy damage to the south section of the village. "Shikamaru-sama." A young ninja burst into the room calling out the Nara's name, "There Oto forces have attacked the west gate."

"Damnit, the Iwa and Kusaga attack was a diversion." Shikamaru cursed, he then turned to Shino, "Send word to our forces at the main gate, tell them to fall back. We cannot allow Oto to corner us."

Shino nodded and exited the room, Shikamaru was about to get back to when he saw the young ninja was still standing there and from the panicked look on his face it could only mean that there was some other bad news that he had to deliver, "What else do you have to tell me?"

"Sir There's something else sir; it's not been confirmed but word is that Orochimaru himself has been sighted amongst the invading forces." The young ninja told him.

Shikamaru collapsed into his seat, "God help us all."

* * *

Back at the front gate things weren't going well for the Konoha forces stationed there. The heavy jutsu based attacks from the Iwa mixed with the swift weapon based combat from the Kusaga forces had them pinned down. Gai had just felled another Iwa ninja when he felt something crawling up his leg and looking down saw a stag beetle which in a puff of smoke transferred into a scroll. Unfurling it Gai read its contents.

"Damnit." He then channelling charkra into his vocal cords and projected his voice across the battlefield, "KONOHA FORCES, FALL BACK. RETREAT BACK INSIDE THE VILLAGE WALLS, FALL BACK!"

Just then Kiba and Neji appeared at his side. "Gai-sensei, what's going on? Why are you ordering us to retreat?" Neji asked as he swatted away a Kusaga nin with a Juken strike.

"I've receives word from the command centre, Oto forces have broken through our western division and infiltrated the village." His former sensei told him.

"So what, the whole attack here is nothing but a diversion?" Kiba spat with a feral growl.

"So it would seem." Neji responded, "However we what are we going to do about these guys? We can't exactly leave them to their own devises."

"For the moment all we can do is comply and fall back within the city walls and hope we'll have better luck fending off the combined forces on the streets and rooftops of our home village." Gai said solemnly.

"Or what's left of it." Kiba added grimly.

From across the battlefield the Tsuchikage and the representative on Kusaga were watching as the Konoha forces retreated back within the village gates. "We have them on the run." The Kusaga captain commented, "It would seem Orochimaru's forces were successful on their end."

"So it seems." The Tsuchikage replied, "However if that snake faced freak thinks he'll be taking all the credit for Konoha's destruction then he's sadly mistaken."

Just then a Kusaga ninja appeared before them, "I apologize for sudden appearance my captain however I bring urgent news." The ninja said.

"What is it?" the Kusaga captain asked. "We picked up on four chakra signatures approaching." The ninja told them, "One of them is Uchiha Sasuke."

Both the Tsuchikage and the Kusaga captain stared at the man before momentarily glancing at one another. "So Konoha's prodigal son returns." The Kusaga captain commented, "I wonder, has he come to aid his former home or to help destroy it?"

"You need not worry, it's well documented that the wayward Uchiha feels nothing but distain for Konoha." The Tsuchikage replied, "However it's also documented that he's also become something of a psychopath, killing anyone and anything that stands between him and his objective."

"Really, then I pity poor Konoha. Their former golden child shall be part of their undoing." the Kusaga captain said in a mirthless tone, "I suggest we move, I do not fear the Uchiha however I'd rather not be around when Sasuke arrives."

* * *

Yamato had just finished off another group of Oto ninja with Doton: Doryūsō (Rising Stone Spears) when a familiar creepy chuckle was heard and looking about saw Orochimaru standing there.

"Well well, Yamato what a surprise to see you here." The snake sannien said whilst Yamato glared at him, "I must say you've grown in strength, not bad for a failed experiment of mine."

"MOKUTON: JUBAKU NO JUTSU! Tree Restraints!" Yamato hands flew as he flipped through seals and three large root like tendrils burst from the ground and flew at the snake user who just lets out a 'ha', tilting his head back and opening his mouth wide a snake with a sword handle sticking out of its jaws appeared. In one fluid motion the snake spat the sword out allowing Orochimaru to snatch the weapon of the air and cut the roots down with little effort.

_'Shit, Kusanagi. Orochimaru's personal weapon...'_ Yamato inwardly cursed as he drew his ANBU standard issued sword from the sheath on his back.

The two weapons clashed creating a shower of sparks as they did. "What's the matter Yamato is this really all you can muster?" Orochmaru taunted, "Maybe I was wrong, you are a failure after all."

Yamato said nothing and did his best not to display any emotion; he didn't want to give the man who ruined his life any satisfaction by getting under his skin. "No come back? I'm disappointed, even Sarutobi was good with some banter whilst we fought." The snake sannien told his test subject, "Oh well, I suppose I should finish this quickly then. After all I have places to be and a village to destroy."

"SEN'EI JASHU! Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" From out of seemingly nowhere a rain of snakes, with a look of annoyance Orochimaru was forced to abandon his focus on Yamato to deal with the reptiles, this gave Yamato a chance to fall back and catch his breath. In an instant Anko was at his side.

"Mitarashi, what are you doing? You should be aiding the others in repelling the enemy forces." The Mouton user told the purple haired konouchi.

"Well that's a nice way to talk to the gal who just saved your skin." Anko retorted in a mock hurt manner, she then turned her focus on Orochimaru who'd just finished with the snakes and her expression changed to a one of total seriousness, "Besides you're not the only one who has a grudge against this guy."

"Oh how sweet, both my failed test subjects together. I suppose this could be considered to be a reunion of sorts." Orochimaru said with a sneer.

"Bastard, you ruined my life." Anko snarled, "I trusted you, I looked up to you and you tossed me aside like I was nothing."

"Anko, calm down." Yamato told her, "He's not worth your scorn. He's nothing but a pathetic old man who's long past him time and is too afraid of death."

**"**KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU: SE ISSEN SUNE-KU! Summoning: Torrent of One Thousand Snakes!"/" DONTON: DORYU TAIGA! Earth Flow River!" Both Konoha ninja cried out. Anko slammed her hands into the ground from which emerged a large seal followed by a large burst of smoke from which hundreds of snakes of various sizes spewed forth at the pale skinned ninja. Meanwhile a river of mud was fired from Yamato's mouth; Orochimaru however looked on at the pairs efforts with amusement.

"How precious, it's so nice to see two love birds work so closely together." Drawing a little blood Orochimaru flipped through seals and like Anko slammed his hands into the ground, "KUCHISOSE: RASHOMIN! Summoning: Rashōmon!"

The ground shook and a large structure rose up from the earth with the snake user standing atop it, both Anko and Yamato's jutsu slammed into the structure however it was able to hold and both attacks were repelled.

_'Damnit, the demon gate.'_ Yamato inwardly cursed, _'I'd heard it took two people to summon this monstrosity but apparently Orochimaru can call it by himself.'_

"Is that all children, there are other places I need to be." Orochimaru said in a taunting manner.

Just then Cassius appeared at his side bowing to his master, "Orochimaru-sama, do not dirty your hands dealing with these low class Konoha ninja. Please allow me to deal with them."

"Very well, you've faithful serves does deserve rewarding. Deal with them but do it quickly, I expect you and Kabuto to be at my side when I deal with my former teammates." Orochimaru replied.

"Thank you Orochimau-sama." Cassius said before leaping off the Rashōmon and landed before Yamato and Anko whilst Orochimaru vanished in a puff of smoke.

"What's this, the big bad Sannien needs to send one of his little lackies out to deal with us." Anko said in a taunting manner.

"The two of you are unworthy of facing Orochimaru-sama, it will be my honour to face you in his place." Cassius retorted unmoved by Anko's words.

The snake mistress lunged at the Oto ninja whilst Yamato flipped through seals, "MOKUTON: JUBAKU NO JUTSU! Tree Restraints!" Several tree roots erupted from the ground and rushed towards Cassuis, as they did Anko flipped out of the way and the tendrils of wood wrapped around the Oto ninja.

"Gotcha." Anko said as she took out a kunai and licked the blade. To their surprise Cassius then dissolved into a pool of mud.

"An earth clone!" Yamato exclaimed, just then he felt a vibration in the ground and looked down in time to see a pair of hands burst from the ground.

"Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu! (Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!) huh. Ok try this. SUITON: SUIHACHI! Water Wave Palm!" Yamato fired a jet of water at the ground forcing Cassius to emerge from the ground and when he did several snakes appeared and wrapped themselves around the Oto soldier, Anko off to the side with a shit eating grin spread across her face. Readying his sword Yamato drew his sword again and moved into to kill the Oto ninja and drive his weapon through his gut.

The sound of metal piercing flesh followed by a spurt of blood filled the air. Yamato looked on in horror at the sight before him, his sword piercing the stomach not of the Oto ninja Cassius but of his fellow Konoha ninja Anko blood seeping from the wound and splattering the ground. The seasoned former ANBU felt the chakra signature of someone behind him and looking round saw Cassius standing several feet away.

"As I thought, you were indeed unworthy of challenging Orochimaru-sama." The masked ninja said, he then turned and began walking away, "Now if you'll excuse me I must be going, my master is expecting me."

And in the blink of an eye he was gone.

Yamato let out a noise of frustration, _'How the hell did he do that, one moment he was retrained then the next he was replaced by Anko. __Kawarimi no Jutsu (Change of Body Stance Technique), but how the hell could he pull it off whist retrained?'_

Just then a puff of smoke was heard and Yamato turned around in time to catch Anko as she fell on him, "Anko. Anko, stay with me. Do not die on." Yamato ordered as he grabbed the snake mistress shoulders; however she wasn't in good shape as she's already lost a lot of blood and was beginning to go into shock.

"Damnit…" Yamato cursed and quickly flipped through seals, "MOKUTON: MOKU BUNSHIN NO JUTSU! Wood Clone Technique!" Strange growths emerged from Yamato's body which morphed into a perfect copy of the former ANBU.

"Take Anko back to the village and get her to either Shizune or Sakura, do not stop for anything." Yamato ordered as he handed Anko's limp form to the clone.

"Hai." The clone replied before taking off.

* * *

Elsewhere a group of four was approaching the battle ravaged village, the ground was decorated with patches of blood as well as the bodies of the dead, both Konoha Iwa and Kusaga, as well as spent weapons and the sound of battle still filled the air.

"Wow, this place is a dump." Suigetsu said in a snarky tone as he took his big gulp cup. "I'd always heard Konoha was supposed to be beautiful, I say they really need to update the guidebooks."

"No one asked for your opinion freak." Karin snorted in disgust.

"What you call me?" Suigetsu snapped. Whilst this was happening Sasuke and Jugo ignored their teammate's latest round of bickering.

"Sasuke, are you sure you require me for this?" Jugo asked, "The sight and smell of battle are assaulting my senses, I'm not sure I can control of myself."

Sasuke didn't respond what did he care if Jugo lost control and raised Konoha to the ground, as far as he was concerned the village was a little more than a constant reminder of his past and the sooner it was destroyed the sooner he would be free from the final link he had with it.

The foursome continued on, anyone who in their way met a bloody demise at Suigetsu's hand, and soon the passed through the now ruined village gates and were greeted by the sight of Konoha's ninja and konouichi fighting for their lives in an effort to repel the Iwa and Kusaga forces.

"So then Sasuke, now that we're here what do you want us to do?" Suigetsu asked, "I very much doubt you brought us here to show us the sights of your home town."

"What I want you do is kill anyone who gets in the way." Sasuke responded his a cold tone, "I don't care who is it, Konoha Oto Iwa Kusaga ninja civilian man woman or child, I want them slaughtered like vermin. I won't consider the task finished until the village is in ruins and streets of this town run red with blood."

An evil smirk spread across Suigestu's face, "Sounds like fun." Grabbing his sword the former Kiri resident charged recklessly into the fray without a second thought.

Jugo however shot Sasuke a look of concern before taking to the rooftops of the village leaving Sasuke and Karin behind.

"What about me Sasuke-kun, what do you want me to do?" the red haired girl cooed.

"I want you to find a place to lay low and avoid everyone till I come and get you." Sasuke replied in a cold tone which Karin ignored.

"Oh Sasuke-kun, I always knew you cared for me. You don't want to see me hurt." The red haired chakra senser gushed to which Sasuke snorted.

"I'm telling you to go hide because you're useless in a fight, you'd only be a hindrance." The ex Konoha ninja told her, "Now get lost." Sasuke watched as Karin had vanished, with that done drew his Kusanagi and moved to join the mass slaughter.

* * *

Whilst the battle on both fronts was going on the medics at both the hospital and those stationed at the academy also had their hands full. With every minute new casualties were brought in, the injuries they sported ranging from minor injuries to near fatal ones. With the situation they were in, with no support from any of their allies and no sign of them on the horizon, all they could really do was patch their soldiers up and send them back to the battlefield and possibly to their deaths.

Sakura had just finished applying bandages to one of the latest casualties when a commotion from outside was heard, _'Now what?'_ the rosette thought whilst letting out a sigh of irritation.

The noise continued for a few moments before the door bust open and Yamato rushed in carrying the limp form of Anko. "Help me," 'Yamato' called out, "I need help right away…"

"Yamato-san…." Sakura cried out as she dashed over to where the former ANBU was standing, "Yamato-san, what's wrong?"

Her eyes widened and a hand clamped itself to her mouth at the sight of a bloody Anko being cradled in 'Yamto's' arms, "Anko-san, what happened?"

"We were engaged in battle at the western gate when Orochimaru showed up." 'Yamato' told the pinkette as she applied healing chakra to Anko's wound.

"Orochimaru did this to her?" Sakura exclaimed looking up at the wood clone.

"No, Anko-sama and Yamato-sama engaged the snake Sannien for a time but this Oto nin showed up and engaged us." 'Yamato' told her, "After a short fight Anko-sama had the Oto nin restrained and Yamato-sama was about to finish him off when the Oto nin replaced himself with Anko-sama and Yamato-sama ended stabbing her instead. Yamato-sama then created me and ordered me to bring Anko-sama here."

Sakura nodded, just then a team of nurses appeared with a gurney and a large bottle of blood. "Ok, take her to a place she can rest and set up a drip to replace her lost fluids." Sakura told the Nurses as Anko was laid down on the gurney, once they'd gone Sakura turned to the Yamato clone and asked, "How bad is it out there?"

"It's pretty bad, with the numbers the invading force has and no reinforcement the odds are we can't win." 'Yamto' replied.

Sakura's fists clenched and her brow furrowed, whilst she knew that being put in charge of this medical station was important the knowledge that her friends being out on the frontlines fighting and possibly dying with her not being able to do anything about was eating her up inside.

"SAI, get over here." Within seconds the pale skinned former ROOT ninja appeared.

"What is it hag?" Sai asked, Sakura's eyebrow twitched at him calling her that.

"Assemble a small team of medic nins, we're headed out into the field to assess the damage and treat anyone we can find." She told him.

"You want to had out to the field?" Sai said raising an eyebrow, "I thought Ero-Hokage gave you instructions to be in charge here?"

"He did, and as the one in charge I'm the calling the shots and I'm telling you to assemble a small team in order to head out into the field." Sakura said in a calm yet commanding tone as she grabbed Sai by the tunic, "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am." Sai said before vanishing.

* * *

As events within Konoha were playing out Cloud and the four ninja from Kumo were within range of the village walls. Seeing the amount of damage done Cloud brought Fenire to a halt and Kitsune and his group appeared beside him. "Damnit, we're too late." Omoi cursed, "Oto Iwa and Kusaga have already done a serious number on this place."

Cloud reached into one of the pouches on his belt and took some binoculars and pressed them to his eyes, "There's a large collection of shinobi located at the village gate."

"Makes sense, they're there to keep any reinforcements from getting in." Kauri said in a knowing tone.

"Hold on, there's something happening. I think they've spotted us." Cloud said.

"How many?" Kitsune asked.

"Eight, four of them have a stone symbol on their head bands four with grass." Cloud replied.

"Oh great," Omoi said sarcastically as he and Kauri drew their weapons, "Here they come."

"KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU! Shadow Clone Technique!" Kistune said forming a cross seal with his fingers, In a puff of smoke several copies of the masked ninja appeared all of whom drew their own swords running their pointer and middle fingers along the blade as they did whilst Cloud got off Fenir and drew First Tsurugi from the scabbard holder on the back of his belt.

Soon enough the Iwa and Kusaga ninja were upon them, the four Kumo ninja engaged the Kusaga ninja whilst Cloud and the Kitsune clones dealt with the Iwa ninja. Despite being seasoned fighters in their own right and their opponents weren't exactly the best either Kusaga or Iwa had to offer Cloud and the four Kumo ninja had their hands full since their fight seemed to be doing was attract more attention from the force stationed at the main gate.

"Damnit, is there no end to these guy?" Omoi cured as he managed to fell an Iwa ninja, "It's like for everyone ninja we take out another two takes its place."

"Quit complaining and keep killing." Kauri snapped in response as she rolled out of the way of a Doton jutsu launched at, "Maybe if you weren't a total slacker you wouldn't be having this problem."

"What was that bitch?" Omoi snapped as he lunged forward and sliced the Doton user's arms off.

"Will you two shut the hell up?" Samuri told the pair of them as she buried a kunai in a Kusaga nins throat, "Every time it's something with you two, yap yap yap."

"He does have a point though," Cloud said as he blocked two Kusaga nins swords with his own, "Because of these guys we're making no progress whatsoever." He then jumped backwards away from the two Kusaga ninja as well as several others who were also charging at him, he then launched Blade Beam at enemy ninja decimating them.

Kistune meanwhile was dealing with three Iwa ninja, weaving between them as he countered each of their strikes _'This is becoming troublesome…'_ he grimaced under his mask, he then began channelling wind chakra into his sword, "FUUTON: DAITOPPA! Great Breakthrough!"

With a swing of his weapon a large burst of wind was released with enough force to knock the advancing Iwa and Kusaga ninja back.

"Ok here's the plan, Samuri you Kauri and Omoi stay here and hold off the Iwa and Kusaga nins whilst Cloud and I get inside Konoha." Kitsune told the others.

"That's great and all but how are you gonna do that, those Iwa and Kusaga ninja aren't exactly going to let us just waltz inside." Kauri replied.

"Not a problem, just stand back and give me some room will ya." Kitsune told the others.

"What are you going to do?" Cloud asked.

"Clear us a path." Kitsune said as he formed a hand seal, "KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU! Shadow Clone Technique!" In a puff of smoke a copy of Kitsune appeared.

"Oh no, you're not going to use that jutsu are you?"Kauri said, panic colouring her voice.

"Kitsune, think for a second. Kiraa Bii-sensei told you never to use that technique." Samui said in a cold voice, "the last time it nearly ripped your arms out of its socket and you were out of action for three weeks."

"That's going on?" Cloud asked in confusion.

Kitsune held out one hand and the clones began moulding the chakra being emitted from Kistune's hand creating an orb of spinning energy. That done Kitsune added his own elemental wind chakra that wound itself around the sphere. "FUUTON: RASENGAN! Spiral Sphere!"

He then charged the wall of enemy ninja that stood between him and his objective, slamming the orb into one of them releasing a large burst of energy which was powerful enough to send them flying. Satisfied Kitsune looked over at Cloud and said "After you."

Cloud sheathed his sword and jumped back onto Fenire revving the engine into life and roared through the sea of demolished Iwa and Kusaga ninja and through the gates whilst Kitsune looked over at his fellow Kumo ninja, "Can you handle things here?"

"The four of us against the whole Iwa and Kusaga armies, sure no problem." Omoi replied.

"What about you?" Kauri asked.

"I'm fine, I only poured a little wind chakra into that Rasangan." Kitsune replied as he drew some blood and wiped it on his palm before flipping though seals and slamming his hand into the ground, "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU! Summoning Technique!" In a burst of smoke a two wolves clad in samurai like armor appeared, one was the black wolf Remus whilst the other was a white wolf; his brother Romulus.

**"Ugh, what is it now?"** Remus groaned, just then the sight, sound and smell of battle assaulted his senses and a predatory grin spread across his face, **"Oh yeah, I'm with you."**

**"Really Remus, please try and contain yourself."** Romulus said, rolling his eyes at his brothers manner, **"This is hardly a pleasant matter we're dealing with."**

**"Shut it you little pansy."** Remus snapped, **"Don't go and ruin my fun just because you hate the taste of blood."**

**"You barbarian."** Romulus snorted.

"Knock it off you two, of do I need to report the pair of you to Urufukisaki?" Kitsune told the pair, both summons quickly ceased arguing, "That's better, now come on we have work to do."

**"Very well then,"** Romulus said firmly**, ****"What is it you would have us do?" **

"Easy, kill everything that doesn't bare the mark of Kumo Konoha or Suna." Kitsune told them, "Oh and if you see a blond guy with a big sword he's with us ok."

**"Got it already, can we start already?" **Remus said in a low growl.

"Go nuts." Kitsune told the pair, the brothers then let out a loud pitch howl before leaping into the fray followed by Kitsune who's paused a moment to draw his weapons.

* * *

In a different part of the village Kakashi Tsunade and Jiriya were following Kakashi's summon hound Pakkun as they made their way across the war torn village, disposing of any enemy that got in their way. "Are you sure that he's this way Pakkun?" Kakashi asked.

"Positive, that snake's vial stink is difficult to miss." The pug replied.

The foursome continued on until they found themselves outside the wired off fence of training ground 7 and seeing the gate open. "Training ground 7; it would be here wouldn't it." Tsunade said with a grimace.

"Makes sense though, there's a lot of history here." Jiriya said in a mirthless tone.

"Let's go," Kakashi told the pair, "It's rude to keep our guest waiting."

"I should say so." A voice caught the trio by surprise and looking up saw a pair of figures each standing on the branch on a tree, one was a man dressed in the traditional gab of an Oto ninja whilst the other was no stranger to them.

"Kabuto…" Kakashi growled, "Why am I not surprised to find Orochimaru's lapdog yipping at his masters heels."

"Tsk tsk Kakashi, such hurtful words are quite unnecessary." Kabuto said offhandedly, "After all Lord Orochimaru instructed my companion and I to escort you three to him."

"Is that so, how nice that he provide an escort." Tsunade deadpanned, she then began channelling chakra into her fist when Kakashi grabbed a hold of it.

"Hold it Tsunade-sama, don't waste your chakra on the likes of him." The silver haired ninja told her, he then looked up at Kabuto and Cassius, "Very well then, take us to him."

"Well if that's the case I doubt you need me anymore so if you don't mind I'll take my leave now; I doubt I'd be much use for what's coming next anyway." Pakkun spoke up.

"That's fine, you've done enough." Kakashi told the small dog before it vanished in a puff of smoke; he then looked ahead, "Come on then, we've wasted enough time here."

The five some made their way through the line of trees found themselves in a wide open space, off to one side was a large green stone and standing before it was Orochimaru. "Orochimaru-sama, we've done as you requested." Kabuto told his pale skinned master.

"Excellent Kabuto, both of you have done well." The snake ninja said, his eyes never leaving the stone, "For a moment I was beginning to wonder if the three of you wouldn't show at all but it seems I shouldn't have, after all this is a something none of us can afford to avoid."

"Cut the theatrics Orochimaru, you have a lot of nerve wanting to fight here." Kakashi told the snake sannien.

Suddenly a creepy sounding chuckle escaped Orochimaru's lips. "How can I not wish to fight you here, after all what a more fitting location for out confrontation, after all to all those gathered this is sacred ground." Orochimaru told them, as both Kabuto and Cassius appeared at his side, "This is where Shodai and the Nidaime trained Sarutobi. Sarutobi would train Tsunade, Jiriya and myself. Jiriya would go on to train Minato. Minato would train Kakashi. And you Kakashi trained Sasuke Sakura and Naruto right here."

"Shut up!" Tsunade spat venomously, "You have no right to mention my grandfather and granduncle, Sarutobi-sensei, Minato or Naruto. They each gave everything they had in service to this village, whilst all you ever did was infect it with your vile poison. You not worthy to even speak their names."

"It seems I've touched a nerve." Orochimaru said offhandedly.

"Save your breath you bastard, none of us wants to hear what you have to say." Jiriya said in a forceful tone, "Let's gets down to business already."

"Yes, here and now words are indeed pointless. Best to let our actions speak for us." Orochimaru told the trio as each of them prepared to engage one another.

* * *

Back in the village Sakura was leading two other med nins along with the Yamato clone towards the west side of the village, Sai had split off with two others headed towards the main gates. The small party was leaping across the rooftops doing their best to ignore the raging battle going on around them.

They were half way to the western gate when something caught Sakura's eye, they were now close to the stadium that was located in the centre of the village and from the looks of things a large battle had uncured here by the number of bodies that were lying on the ground. "You guys go on ahead; I'm going to check this out." Sakura told the others, "Yamato-sensei, I'm trusting you to keep these two alive."

"I'll do my best Sakura-san." The wood clone replied. Nodding Sakura broke off from the group and descended to the streets below and quickly assessed the situation, the damage done to this area was staggering, bodies of ninja, Konoha and Oto, littered the ground like discarded trash.

_'Kami, don't tell me they've already got this deep into the village…'_ Sakura thought as she examined one of the Oto ninja, she was about to remove the man's mask when the sounds of another man's cries filled the air followed by what sounded like the chirping of birds.

Whirling around Sakura was just in time to see the body of a Konoha ninja come flying out of an alleyway and hit the ground a few moments later it was followed by a figure clad in a puffy white shirt blue sash covering black pants with a purple rope belt tied around his waist, in his hand was a sword its blade dripping with blood. Sakura's eyes widened at this sight, "No way…Sasuke!"

Hearing his name Sasuke looked round and saw the pinkette, his face, which was set in an unreadable expression, and hair was splattered with the blood of the man he'd just killed his Sharingan eyes fixed on her in a cold stare.

Sakura felt a shiver running down her spine, this was not the Sasuke she remembered and felt for when she was young. Gone was the boyish features and the mysterious dark eyes, all that was gone and replaced by hard features and cold eyes, the left one still baring the battle scar he'd received from fighting Naruto on the mission to retrieve him, it was as if Sasuke whole being radiated had a dark aura and it was so vile Sakura felt like she could choke on it.

"Sasuke, what…what have you done?" the pinkette managed to choke out.

Sasuke said nothing in response, his Sharingan flashed as she began slowly advancing on his former teammate.

Sakura's fists clenched as she tried to steady her hands, she couldn't afford to look shaken not in front of him. She wasn't the same weak girl she'd been back in the day and she was going to show the Uchiha that. Reaching into her weapons pouch she took out a pair of black gloves and slid them on, she was Sakura Haruno konouichi of Konoha and apprentice of Tsunade Senju and it was time to show her former teammate/crush just what that meant.

* * *

AN And with that chapter 9 is fini, after finishing this as well as new chapters for a few of my other projects I need a holiday.

Its been a while since my last post I know, I've had to deal with work family issues and even more tech problems (I hate my computer, its given me nothing but stress since I bought it and if I had the spare money I'd trash it and buy a new one). That and I've been waiting on new chapters of the manga ever since Kushina showed up cos like everyone else I wanna see how it plays out and at the same time pray that Kishimoto doesn't screw it up.

The manga is currently in flashback mode which is both good and bad, yeah its nice to see what happend in the past but at the same its also kinda dull cos you already know what's gonna happen.

499: Naruto absorbs the Kyuubi's chakra and gets a cool tatoo. It ends with Kushina reveals that she was the previous Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi and the audience is like 'OMG', then a second later your brain kicks in and your like 'Wait what?'

500: I got to give Kishimot credit for this one, his explination for how Kushina was the previous Kyuubi Jinchuuriki could have been really stupid and whilst it wasn't all that good the way it was presented made me go with it. Its almost like a member Uzumaki line is fated to be the container of the Kyuubi. Mito Uzumaki was the first Jinchuuriki, it was then passed on to Kushina who then passed it on to Naruto and someday Naruto will have to pass the responsibility onto one of his decendents.

501: Poor Kishimoto, he's really trying to convice us that Madara is a credible villian. Picture it for a second, its a meeting of the Evil Council of Ultimate Doom with all the main anime villians are telling each other what acts of evil they've commited and Madara says 'I tried to blow up a new born baby' and the whole room goes quiet and Sosuke Aizen says 'Dude, not cool.'

And since then 502 and 503 have pretty much just been cutting between Minato and Madara fighting and the Kyuubi rampaging through Konoha causing death and destruction. To be honest I'd much rather if kishi had just focused on Minato vs Madara, in all honestly it wasn't that great of a fight since Madara can make himself intangible and Minato can use Hiraishin and both of them just kept teleporting all over the place but if he had just focused on their fight just so it could have ended quicker. Althought at least it didn't become a Sasuke fight, long drawn out and rather tedious.

Let's face it throught out the last few chapters the Kyuubi was irrelevant, we didn't need to keep cutting to it whilst it raised Konoha to the ground. We could have not seen Kyuubi until it came time for Minato to seal it, which should be the next chapter althought I suspect Kishi is going to draw that out as well (I know 504 is out but I haven't read it yet, although I do know about Kushina's little speech).

If it seems I harping on about this I apologize, I have this lingering fear that somehow Kishimoto to screw it up and its going to turn into bad fanfiction. And beleive me there is an ass load bad fanfiction stories that it can turn into.

1) Super powerful Naruto/character. The main problem with super powered characters is finding someone or something that can pose a threat to them, the best example I can think of is Superman. In my mind the people in comics who have the hardest job are the ones who have to write Superman comics since they have to come up with credible threats for a guy who's practically a God.

2) Naruto joins the Akatsuki; do I even need to point out how utterly fucking stupid that is?

3) Naruto has the Kyuubi removed from him and yet somehow miraculously survives. These are rare however there are examples and they're all bad, no one can make this storyline work for the simple face it's fucking dumb.

4) Naruto having Kekkei Genkai. People who write these stories just show how much they have missed the point. Naruto doesn't have a Kekkei Genkai in the canon story because he's not meant to have one; it's one of the things that separate him from Sasuke.

5) Naruto gains Sharingan/is a member of the Uchiha clan. Same as point 5 really, having it makes Naruto no different than Sasuke. Naruto is someone who's gone through great struggles and hardships however it is because of them he is the person he is. So suddenly him possessing a magic plot devise that allows his to gain power without any effort just cheapens his character. That and the fact that Kishi has pretty much driven the Sharingan into the ground by this point.

6) Emo Naruto (aka stories where Naruto is exactly the same as Sasuke). These just are just utterly pointless, if you're going to write a story where is Naruto indistinguishable from Sasuke then you might as well just tell a story about Sasuke.

Anyway the war has finally kicked, I just hope I haven't done too bad a job. If I haven't and you want a good battle I suggest you go check out Dragon6's work since he's a really good writer and can write good battles, particually Mizukage which by and far one of the best on going stories on this site and one day I hope I can write just as well as he can.

Next time big things are gonna happen: Kakashi Tsunade Jiriya and Cloud Vs Orochimaru, Sakura Vs Sasuke and Sasuke Vs Kitsune.

Also for all of who were unhappy for Cloud's lack of absence last chapter I hope this makes up for it.

As for now I'm done, I'm gonna go take a nap. Till next time peace out yo.


	15. Chapter 10

AN  
"Blah"- Nomal Speech  
_'Blah'-_ Thoughts  
"BLAH"- Jutsu

* * *

_Naruto/Final Fantasy VII_  
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 10

Invasion Arc: Part 3

Several hours had passed since the combined Oto/Iwa/Kusaga forces had broken through Konoha's walls, on every street battle raged as the ninja of the leaf fought with everything they had to repel their foes to prevent them from getting any deeper into their home. However, despite their best efforts they were aware that the odds were considerably stacked against them, the enemy had them out numbered and over powered and with no help to back them up it seemed like this battle was one they had no hope of winning. However unbeknownst to them help had arrived although not in the form they would have expected; four ninja from Kumo as well as Cloud Strife, a man many considered legendary, as well as Suna and Cloud's allies from Avalanche on the way. The area was engulfed in pandemonium as Cloud dashed through the streets of Konoha, due to the sheer amount of opposition he'd encountered the blond swordsman was forced to abandon Fenrir and travel on foot. He was currently somewhere on the western side of the village and the number of Oto ninja he'd encountered had increased. Then, as if on cue, three of them dropped down from seemingly nowhere before him.

_'This is getting weird, there weren't any of these guys at the main gate so where are they coming from?'_ he wondered as he cleaved one of them in two with his big ass sword. The second of the two remaining Oto ninja lunged towards Cloud with two kunai's whilst the other fired a water jutsu at him, Cloud managed to duck out of the firsts attack before kicking the ninja into the jet of water aimed at him. Once the two hit the ground Cloud finished them off with a Blade Beam before continuing on. After several more encounters Cloud found himself in front of a fenced off area, the gate to which was open. Thinking that there must be some reason for this place being so heavily defended Cloud entered.

* * *

The air of training ground 7 was filed with the sounds of battle as Kakashi, Tsunade and Jiraiya clashed with Orochimaru and his two companions Kabuto and Cassius. Kakashi had drawn his ANBU sword and was preparing to engage Orochimaru when Cassius appeared and blocked his weapon with a kunai.

"You are indeed a formidable opponent Kakashi Hatake," The Oto captain told the silver haired nin, "However I cannot allow you to harm Orochimaru-sama." The two jumped backwards each landing a few meters away from one another, both with their weapons at the ready.

"Tell me, why serve someone like Orochimaru? You must know that he sees you as nothing but a tool, to be used and disposed of when he has no further use for you." Kakashi told the masked ninja.

"Orochimaru-sama is more than just my master, he is my whole world, he gives me purpose, and he is my salvation." Cassius replied, "Before him I was nothing. He gave me a reason to live and because of that I am eternally in his debt."

A frown spread across Kakashi's face, _'This guy, that's almost identical to what that kid Haku said about Zabuza back in Wave. Just who is this guy, what could have happened to make him so loyal to Orochimaru?'_ The Oto soldier jabbed at Kakashi with his kunai, forcing the former ANBU now Kage to defend himself with his own weapon.

Orochimaru meanwhile had a shit eating grin plastered on his face as he used his Sen'eijashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) to launch multiple snake's at Jiraiya who in turn used his Hari Jizō (Needle Jizō) to both protect himself as well as impale the serpents with his needle like shield. "What's with that look Jiraiya?" the snake user said in a mocking tone at his former teammates serious expression, "It's not often I see such an expression on your dopey face, I'm not quite sure if it suits you or not."

"Shut up Hebi-teme." Jiraiya retorted, "However I find it puzzling that anyone would call you their salvation."

"What I can I say; I have something of a knack for attracting lost souls. This one especially, he stands out amongst all those who I have gathered to my side if I do say so myself." Orochimaru replied, "Then again you were always pretty unorthodox Jiraiya, always looking beyond rankings and clans to find those diamonds in the rough that others had passed over. It must have broken your heart to learn that all your efforts had gone to waste when you had to watch little Naruto be cast out and abandoned by those he'd sworn to protect. Oh that's right, you weren't there were you. If my sources are correct you were busy gathering intelligence on the Akatsuki when they kicked him out."

The toad sage shot a cold glare at his former teammate, "Bastard, Tsunade already told you that you have no right to even mention his name."

"Why not, who are you and Tsunade to deny me the right to speak of him when out of the three of us I was the one who never did wrong to him. You failed him Jiraiya just like you failed his parents." Orochimaru taunted, "Dear Minato and Kushina named you as Naruto's godfather but instead of fulfilling your obligations you choose your obsession with me instead of your responsibilities. Who knows maybe little Naruto would have had a better life if you'd been there to take care of him."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed as he began channelling chakra into his hand forming a swirling ball of pure chakra as he lunged at his pale skinned opponent with the orb held out in front of him, "RASANGAN! Spiralling Sphere!" the sages attack struck Orochimaru in the chest, the nuke nin letting out a cry of agony as it struck him blood oozing from his mouth and from the wound in his gut before smashing into the memorial stone. A pained chuckle escaped from the snake user's lips before a pair of hands emerged from his mouth spreading it wide and a totally new and undamaged Orochimaru emerged from it.

"Disgusting…" Jiraiya commented.

"Nice try Jiraiya, I'll admit you actually put some force into that jutsu." Orochimaru said as he kicked the shredded skin aside. Just then two Oto ninja appeared at their master's side, one of them whispering into Orochimaru's ear. "Interesting, it seems we have some uninvited guests who've decided to crash the party." Orochimaru said to himself, a grin beginning to spread across his pale face, "Cassius why don't you show the nice people your face, I'm sure they all want to see it." Without hesitation Cassius removed his mask causing the gathered Konoha ninja to stop dead in their tracks and stared in disbelief as the masked man revealed himself. Standing there was a man with short spiky blond hair and dull blue eyes.

_'No, it can't be. Please kami no…'_ Tsunade tossed Kabuto aside and ran over to the man and grabbed his shoulders. "Naruto…" Cassius didn't say anything; he just stared at her with his dead eyes. "Naruto please, say something. Don't act like you don't know me."

"I do know who you: you are Tsunade Senju, the last of the Senju clan and former Godaime Hokage of Konoha. You are the granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage and grandniece of the Nidaime Hokage." Cassius said in an almost robotic way, "You were trained under Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, alongside Jiraiya and Orochimaru-sama. You are a master of healing and surgical jutu, as well as being a borderline alcoholic and have a gambling problem which has earned you the title the 'Legendary Sucker'."

"Naruto please…" Tsunade, who was on the verge of tears, pleaded, "Please don't say that, that's just stuff you can read up on in any countries Bingo Book. It says nothing of our relationship, as short as it was, and of the bond we formed."

"That is all I need to know, I am a soldier of Oto and loyal to Orochimaru-sama. All other things are meaningless." Cassius said, his tone never altering from its flat tone.

"That's crap," Tsunade snapped, "What about the Naruto who was a citizen of Konoha? The one who would have given all he had to protect his village and the people who were important to him? Is that all meaningless as well?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, former ninja of Konoha." Cassius said churning out more data, "Rank: stripped of rank, formally Genin, Jinchuriki of the Kitsune no Kitsune. Status: exiled from Konoha, Issued with a K.O.S. status if spotted near or within the village's borders."

Angry tears flowed from Tsunade's eyes as she turned her gaze at Orochimaru, "What have you done to him."

"Who me?" Orochimaru said in a would-be-innocence tone, "As I said I have a knack for attracting lost souls, and who better to turn to my side then Konoha's ultimate lost soul. Turned away by those he believed truly cared for him." Just then the snake user began flipped through seals. "But enough of this banter, let's move on shall we. I have several other surprises in store for you." Orochimaru then slammed both his hands into the ground. "KUCHIYOSE: EDO TENSEI! Impure World Resurrection!" The ground began to shake as three coffins rose up from it, the lids fell away revealing three figures. The first was a man with spiky black hair clad in a blue and orange jumpsuit, a nasty looking scar running down the left side of his face sealing his eye shut. The second was a woman with shoulder length brown hair with purple markings on her face and clad in a long-sleeved black top with a Chunin's vest worn over the top and matching shorts with a purple-pink skirt worn over the top. The third and final member of the trio was an elderly man clad in a black jumpsuit with gray shoulder armor, a gauntlet was strapped to his right arm, his forehead was covered by a protector and a ninja helmet atop his head. All three Konoha ninja stared. Kakashi cursed Orochimaru as he stared at the woman who had emerged, she looked exactly the same as the last time he'd seen her during the night of the Kyuubi attack.

_'Damn you Orochimaru. Rin, why did it have to be you… ?'_ His gaze then shifted to the third member their eyes meeting, _'And him, here's no doubt. I don't know how but it can only be…'_

"Hey Kakashi, it's been a while." The dark haired guy said in a cheerful tone.

"Obito," Kakashi replied, "It certainly has been." He then turned to Rin, "And you Rin, it's good to see you again."

"How are Sensei and Kushina-san?"

"They…they both perished Rin, they died during the Kyuubi attack?" Kakashi replied.

Rin's eyes widened, "But Kushina-san was…did the baby…?"

"The baby lived Rin, it was a boy." Kakashi told her trying to sound reassuring, "They named him Naruto after the character in Jiraiya's book."

"That's good." Rin said sounding relieved, "I bet he was just like his father, strong…handsome…a genius."

"Actually he was a knuckleheaded loud mouth with an unhealthy obsession with ramen." Kakashi said in a matter-o-factly tone.

Whilst this was going on Jiraiya and Tsunade were also having their own moment with their former sensei.

"Jiraiya, Tsunade." Hiruzen Sarutobi addressed to the pair in a warm tone.

"Old man, whilst it is hardly the circumstances I would have ever wanted for a reunion it's good to see you." Jiraiya replied.

Sarutobi looked over at Tsunade, "And you Tsunade I am glad you are here, one of the few regrets I have is that I wasn't able to see you one last time before I died."

"Sensei," Tsunade replied doing herself to compose herself, first Orochimaru's companion revealing that he looked like Naruto then the snake bastard reviving her dead sensei had really done a number on her. Just then Orochimaru appeared behind Sarutobi and drove a kunai with a tag attached to it into the back of his head.

"That's enough banter I think; let's get to the business at hand."

"Orochimaru, you use that foul jutsu of yours to make me fight my former students in your place. You have indeed sunk so low." Sarutobi, glancing over at his former student, said in a disappointed tone, he then looked back over at Tsunade and Jiraiya, "I must apologize, normally I would never strike at any of you with any malicious intent however as long as that damn seal is in place I have no choice but to follow Orochimaru's instructions.

"How touching. Cassius."

"Hai Orochimaru-sama." Cassius, who'd replaced his mask, said, the masked man vanished and reappeared behind Obito and Rin and taking out two kunai that had tags attached to them drove them into the back of their skulls.

"And now the game can begin." Orochimaru said, a twisted looking smirk spreading across his face.

* * *

A bead of sweat ran down Sakura's face as Sasuke silently advanced towards her, she stared into the eyes of the man who at one point meant so much to her, her teammate friend and the object of her affection. She had long ago reconciled that her supposed feelings towards the Uchiha had been nothing more than a childish crush; it had been a difficult and painful thing for her to do however no one ever said that growing up was easy thing to do. Despite what she thought back then in reality she had never been in love with Sasuke; she had been in love with her idea of Sasuke much in the same way Hinata had been in love with her idea of Naruto rather than Naruto himself, her idea of Sasuke being that of him as a dark, mysterious and aloof yet deeply romantic stranger who saw her as the only one who could capture his heart. That had been her image of him and she had fought tooth and nail to hold on to it, that was until it was shattered when Sasuke had escaped the village for the second time killing several people, both shinobi and civilian alike, on his way out. She steeled herself as Sasuke came within inches of her only to walk straight past her. Shocked Sakura whirled around and watched Sasuke's back as he continued to walk away.

_'Does this mean that…after all this time that I still am still nothing to him… ?'_ "Sasuke!" She cried out, "Stop right there." Sasuke showed no sign of acknowledgment. Pumping chakra into her leg Sakura stomped her foot into the ground causing a shockwave that rocked the area, "Sasuke you have been classified as an enemy of this village and its allies, as a shinobi of Konoha it's my duty to see that you are either captured or naturalised." Just then a vision of the photo of Team 7 taken oh so long ago flashed through Sakura's mind, those days seemed so long ago now, "However because of our…history I'm going to give you one chance to get out of here. Turn around and go Sasuke, leave the village and never come back."

"Why." The sound of Sasuke speaking caught her by surprise, "Why should I take you up on your offer. You meant nothing back to me back then and you mean even less to me now." Just then Sasuke peered over his shoulder at her, his cold piercing eyes glaring at her, "Now get lost and play ninja somewhere else, if you persist I kill you."

Sakura's features hardened. "So that's it then? All our history together, the times that you me and Naruto spent together, it all means nothing to you?"

"You, me and Naruto, out of the three of us you were always the weakest member of our team, always staring at my back wasting my time with your pathetic drivel asking me on pointless dates. I remember Iruka saying you were the smartest konouchi of our graduating class with a talent for Genjutsu, but instead of honing your skills and becoming a better ninja you threw it all away and wasted your time doing your hair. Now fuck off, I have no time to waste on you."

_'Looks like I have no choice then…'_ Sakura thought as she drew a kunai, _'Well don't say I didn't warn him. Guess I also get to show him just how much I've grown since he left.'_ She threw the weapon at the rogue Uchiha who twisted out of the way, the metal object sailing past his head, and seeing Sakura rushing towards him a kunai in each hand. The pinkette lashed out with both her weapons in an attempt to impale her former teammate only for Sasuke to either dodge out of the way or use his Kusanagi to block each of her strikes. It was during this exchange that Sakura noticed something, Sasuke had deactivated his Sharingan. _'So he thinks he doesn't need his precious eyes to deal with me does he…'_ she thought as she took another swing at the Uchiha who was unfazed by it and forced her to duck as he tried to slash at her with his Kusanagi. A smirk spread across Sasuke's face as he saw her do this and drove his knee into her gut knocking the wind out of her followed by a vicious kick to her face that sending her skimming across the ground and smashed into a nearby building.

Sensing victory Sasuke performed hand seals for his family's signature technique: "KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU! Great Fireball Technique!" A stream of flames spewed forth from Sasuke's mouth aimed at the cherry blossom konouchi.

Tossing the two kunai into the air Sakura began flipping through seals, "DOTON: DORYUU HEKI! Earth Style Wall!" She then slammed her hands into the ground which shook as a wall of mud rose from it; the fire connected with the wall but ultimately couldn't penetrate it.

_'So she learned how to use Doton jutsu.'_ Sasuke thought as he looked on impassively, _'No matter…'_ Just then electrical energy began to form around his weapon, the Uchiha then charged at the wall, sword raised, crying out "CHIDORI KOKEN! One Thousand Birds Sword!" with a single swing of his weapon Sasuke cut the wall of mud in two. The whole world seemed to move forward in slow motion as the Uchiha's momentum continued to carry him forward, it was then Sasuke spotted his former teammate crouched low to the ground, her hardened eyes staring up at him. The pink haired konouchi began to rise, her fist rushing forward as she did, and delivered a vicious uppercut to him. "You…you planned that…" Sasuke spat venomously as he pushed himself up, glaring at her.

"That's right Uchiha," Sakura replied, "It's no secret you like to spam that fire jutsu of yours, plus I know that lightning techniques like Chidori are strong against earth jutsu. That wall I put up wasn't just to block your fire attack, it was also to lure you into using one of your Chidori moves to get you to get in close and knowing your ego you wouldn't hesitate to do so. So what were you saying about me wasting my intelligence?"

Pure hate began to flow through Sasuke as he got back to his feet, he was enraged that the girl that he'd always thought of as weak and pathetic had just pulled one over on him.

Sakura did her best to hide her nervousness; sure she's managed to get in one good shot however he knew full well she wouldn't be able to get in another like that again. Watched as the rouge ninja reactivated his Sharingan, _'Ok, it seems I've got his attention. Things get serious for here on out.'_ The rosette did her best to steel herself as she began analysing the situation, _'ok I need a tactic, let see my strengths are: close range Taijutsu, Doton jutsu, medical jutsu and Genjutsu. Those really aren't great things for this situation. Genjutsu is out since Sharingan will allow Sasuke to see through it plus he can now read my movements and copy my jutsu. Raiton beats Doton plus he can seemingly channel it into his sword and his Katon gives him greater ranger.'_ Sakura thought, _'The only thing I can out do him in is physical strength but I need to get in close to effectively use it.'_ Sasuke had gotten back to his feet and was in the process of cracking his neck and shoulders back into place before picking up his sword again, "That won't work again. I'll kill you and everybody else in this godforsaken village." Letting out a cry of anguish Sasuke charged at Sakura, swinging wildly with his sword which the cherry blossom did her best to avoid.

_'Damn, his moves have become wilder and less disciplined, but somehow he seems even stronger than he was before. Does anger and hate really make him stronger?'_ she though as she formed a seal, "DOTON: TSUCHI BUSHIN NO JUTSU! Earth Clone Technique!" Three columns of mud rose from the ground and took Sakura's form, the clones charged forward to engage Sasuke. The Uchiha didn't even blink as the three additional Sakura's moved into engage him and about slashing at them with his sword, however being constructed out of mud the clones were able to reform themselves each time the Uchiha's weapon cleaved through them.

"KATON: GORYUKA NO JUTSU, Great Dragon Fire Technique!" Forming the needed hand seals, Sasuke expelled a large burst of flames that took the form of a dragon head which incinerated two of the clones.

_'What the hell, I've never seen that jutsu before. Just what has Sasuke been up to"'_ the real Sakura wondered as she and her remaining clone moved in and did their best at strike at Sasuke. However the wayward Uchiha's Sharingan made it easy for him to counter their movements. Sakura lunged at Sasuke which he sidestepped and aimed a kick which caught her in the back knocking her to the ground, as he was about to cast another fire jutsu Sakura pushed did a backwards sweep with her leg kicking dust into Sasuke's face halting the Uchiha's jutsu. Seeing her opening Sakura channelled her chakra into her fist and unleashed a vicious blow that struck the Uchiha in the gut knocking him into the air, then at the very last second Sakura grabbed a hold of Sasuke's shirt and pumping chakra into her leg began to charge forward and using the Uchiha's body as a battering ram crashed her way through several building before tossing him into the air and unleashed another punch which connected with his face causing him smash into the ground with a sickening yet satisfying crash.

_'Bitch….she got me again….'_ Sasuke snarled, looking up into the sky he saw dark clouds forming, _'That's it, no more playing around.'_

Sakura watched as Sasuke gingerly rose to his feet, as he did his hand began to crackle with lightning chakra. _'Is he trying for Chidori?'_ just then a roll of thunder was heard and looking up Sakura saw the dark clouds that were gathering overhead and a giant bolt of lightning emerged and struck Sasuke's chakra covered hand.

"Sakura Haruno, know that you've pushed me to this. Consider yourself special that that the last thing you shall ever see is my ultimate jutsu," Sasuke said in a cold voice, "RAITON: KIRIN!" The lightning took the form of a large dragon which launched itself at Sakura.

As the large amount of electric death rushed towards her Sakura formed a seal seconds before it struck her, the pink haired konouchi let out a cry as the lightning consumed her. _'I got her, i did it. I finally got that pink haired annoyance out of my life.'_ Sasuke though panting, looking at the crater where Sakura had been, but instead of finding a charred corpse there was a puddle of mud. _'Wha…mud, where the body? ' _Just then something occurred to him, _"__she must have used kawarimi no jutsu (__change of body stance), she used it __to replace herself with that clone of hers and it took the hit. She dodged it, I used my ultimate technique and she dodged it!'_

From her hiding place Sakura heard the anguished scream that escaped former teammates. _'That was too close, one more second and…'_ she shook her head and wiped the sweat of her forehead onto the back of her arm, images of the lightning bolt striking Sasuke's hand, _'That jutsu, its destructive power, how can anyone contend with that? I…I can't beat him, not how I am now not to mention knowing that I know he has a jutsu like that. He can control lighting, not chakra made stuff but real lightning…'_ she then looked over at her arm, _'Opening my chakra seals might give me a chance but there's no telling what having them opened for extensive combat will do to my chakra network and body"._

"SAKURA…SAKURA…." The sound of her name snapped Sakura out of her state, "SAKURA, GET OUT HERE AND FACE ME!"

_'Crap, I have get moving…I can't let him find me…'_ Emerging from her hiding place Sakura went to put as much distance between her and the rogue Uchiha as possible, however before she got too far a sharp piercing pain erupted from her left leg followed by a large spurt of blood causing her to fall. Looking over Sakura saw that Sasuke's sword was stricking through it, knowing what this could only mean she looked up and saw Sasuke headed towards her his Sharingan eyes burning with rage, _'Oh shit…'_ she tried to scramble away however Sasuke was quickly upon her stomping his foot onto her back forcing her back down, once he wrenched his weapon he kicked Sakura onto her back and grabbed a hold of her pulling her up till she was eye level with him. Sakura stared at him fearfully; this was no longer the Sasuke she had known all those years ago. Whilst he had never been what she had always pictured him to be there at least shone some sign of acknowledgment towards her and the other members of Team 7, now all there seemed to be was a seemingly endless pit of hate, _'Sasuke…Sasuke, what's happened to you…'_ Sasuke then proceeded to unleash a number of savage blows on the pinkette and smashed her into a wall, pinned her by sticking his sword through her shoulder. Unable to hide her fear Sakura watched as Sasuke stood before, one of his hands wrapped around her neck and a Chidori crackling in the other.

_'Sakura Haruno, you will fulfil the role that Naruto failed to fulfil. With your death you will grant me the tools I need to exact my revenge and my family's retribution.'_ was Sasuke's thoughts as he raised his arm ready to strike a blow, before he could a wave of pain shot through his leg and looking down he saw a shuriken sticking out of it.

"Y'know there are easier ways to get a date." Hearing a voice Sasuke looked up and saw a cloaked figure standing not too far away. "Well well Sasuke Uchiha, this must be my lucky day. Rank double S criminal, wanted in Konoha for desertion, wanted everywhere else for mass murder. The combined bounty on your head would mean I'd never have to work again." The cloaked man pulled down his hood revealing an ANBU style fox mask covering his face and a mane of wild blond hair. "Huh, so you're Kumo's top ranked ninja." Sasuke said in an unimpressed tone, "The man who supposedly killed the Hoshikage and half of Hoshigakure's ninja forces single handed. I thought you'd be taller."

"Well…maybe less than half." Kitsune said off handily, he then reached around and grabbed his katana from his left side and ran his left pointer and index fingers along the blade before grabbing the wakizashi from the sheath on his right.

Dispelling the Chidori Sasuke grabbed a hold of his Kusanagi and yanked it out of Sakura's shoulder allowing her to collapse to the ground as h began walking towards Kitsune who in turn walked towards him their pace increasing with each step until they were running at one another, a loud clang rang out as their weapons collided with one another.

* * *

Back at Training Ground 7 the battle between Kakashi, Tsunade and Jiraiya and the resurrected Obito, Rin and Sarutobi was getting underway.

"Kakashi if it's all the same to you I'll take sensei." Jiraiya told the grey haired Kage, "I don't doubt your skills as a ninja; however it wouldn't sit right with me if I didn't deal with sensei personally."

"Fine Obito and I have some issues that need to be resolved." Kakashi replied he then looked over at his former teammate, "Is that alright with you?"

"You have to ask?" Obito replied.

"Hmm, seems you get stuck with me Rin." Tsunade told the resurrected brunette.

"That's fine Tsunade-sama; despite the situation it would be an honour to face you." Rin told the slug princess.

Whilst four of the six shinobi set to work going at each other Obito and Kakashi stared at one another waiting for the other to make a move, the reason for this was that both of them possessed the Sharingan, the irony being that he was using the eye that once belonged to his opponent wasn't lost on Kakashi. The ocular Doujutsu granted them both the ability to track the others movements as well as read their Jutsu, a fight between two people possessing such a tool could go on forever. However Kakashi had one edge over Obito, that being that over the years his Sharingan had evolved into Mangekyou Sharingan however he didn't not want to use it, if he used 'that' technique he could end this quickly however it would leave him severely weakened plus he did not want to use it on Obito.

Just then Obito let out a chuckle, "Who had ever thought that I'd ever have to fight you as your enemy."

"You were always one to get into trouble Obito." Kakashi replied, "You were head strong, impulsive and stubborn."

"Yeah, I guess not even that boulder couldnt knock much sense into me." Obito said, the smile on his face falling for a few seconds, "So how's that Sharingan I gave you, I hope you've not let it go to waste?"

"Don't worry; I've put it to good use." Kakashi replied. "That's good." Obito said, pride colouring his voice, "Y'know this is getting kinda boring, let's get this show on the road already." The resurrected Uchiha then dashed towards Kakashi and lashed out at him using Uchiha style Taijutsu, Kakashi responded to by using Gai Gouken Taijutu style combined with a few other fighting styles. Elsewhere of the battlefield Tsunade was throwing one of her famous monster punches at Rin who was wielding a kunai in each hand, the brunette flipped out of the way of the blond sannin's attack and landed a few feet away. As she composed herself Tsunade began going over what she had read about Rin, calculating what her next move should be. Whilst she knew Rin could in no way match up to her in physical strength Tsunade knew not to take Rin lightly, according to her records the brunette had been trained in basic medical ninjutsu but was noted as being highly skilled in the use of poisons. _'Even knowing that there are so many different kinds of poisons it's going to hard to get a bead on her. Fast and slow acting ones, paralysis agents, kinds that attack and eat chakra or attack the chakra networks. Those weapons no doubt will be laced with something, so I can't allow myself to be struck by either of them.'_ "CHAKURA NO MESU! Chakra Scalpel!" The blond konouchi's hands began glowing with green energy as Rin moved into engage her again swiping at the blond with her kunai's. Tsunade ducked under one of Rin's strikes and struck out at the brunettes left arm severing the tendons and rending the appendage useless before quickly following it up by doing it to one of Rin's legs, that done Tsunade delivered a vicious kick to Rin's midsection which knocked her across the field.

Jiraiya and Sarutobi were also engaged in battle, despite his failure to complete his Senjutsu training whilst with Fukasaku and the other toads Jiraiya had picked up enough of the amphibians taijutsu style to make his a dangerous opponent. However in a similar manner, Sarutobi's training under the monkey king Enma and the other apes had made him a master of Monkey style martial arts, the former Hokage using a lot of sporadic movements combined with swift strikes and feints and the lack of being able to effectively use nature chakra meant keeping up with the old man was difficult. Jiraiya had tried to land a blow on his old teacher which Sarutobi dodged by jumping backwards and landing out of range. "Tell me Jiraiya, how much time has passed since my death?" Sarutobi asked.

"Fifteen years." Jiraiya informed him.

"Fifteen years, has munched happened in that time, have the young ones grown strong?" "Things have happened in the world, both good and bad." Jiraiya informed him, "And yes the younger generation have indeed grown strong, they're considered to be among the best Konoha has ever produced."

A warm smile spread across Sarutobi's face. "I see that's good." He said, his voice carrying that warm fatherly tone that Jiraiya had always liked about the man, "And what of Naruto, I assume you took him on as your student like his father before him." An uncomfortable look spread across the hermits face. "Jiraiya, what has happened? What has happened to Naruto?" Sarutobi asked. Jiraiya said nothing, instead he moved into engage his old sensei once more.

* * *

Not far away Cloud was running through the tree filled area, the sounds of combat could be heard in the distance. Before he could get there however three Oto ninja appeared before him. "Halt." One of the commanded, "You shall not interfere with Lord Orochimaru's battle."

"I have no idea who this Orochimaru is but I'm gonna guess that he's one of the people in charge of this whole thing." Cloud said, he then reached behind him and drew his sword and energy began to form around the tip of the blade.

* * *

Back in the training ground Orochimaru watched as the six combatants continued to engage one another, both Cassius and Kabuto had already taken their leave to aid in the conquering of Konoha. Just as he was about to take his leave a rumbling was heard and from the tree line emerged a large tornado, carrying with it several Oto soldiers who then fell and littered the ground. Followed by Cloud appeared who had his sword raised to deal with two more Oto nins despatching them quickly. The blond swordsman's appearance momentarily took Orochimaru and the three revived shinobi by surprise.

"Minato-sensei…" both Obito and Rin gasped.

_"Could it be?'_ Sarutobi wondered, _'He does resemble Minato, or is it…_Naruto?"

Cloud paused and stared at the old man who was approaching him. "Naruto, is that you?" Meanwhile Orochimaru looked at the scene before him _'Interesting…'_ "What are you two doing, get in there." He ordered Obito and Rin who begrudgingly engaged Cloud. The pair engaged Cloud, Rin throwing sebon's laced with poison whilst Obito launched a series of fire jutsu. A battle hardened veteran either Cloud blocked the attacks with his sword or dodged out of the way of the projectiles. Obito rushed at Cloud slashing at him with a pair of kunai the blond ducking under the first strike whilst blocking the second with his weapon, he then aim a kick which caught the Uchiha in the knee knocking him off balance giving Cloud the opportunity to get off another kick this time catching Obito in the gut and knocking him away. Flipping back up to his feet Cloud's body began radiating

a red-ish orange energy and he charged at Rin and executed Climhazzard on her, delivered powerful slash on the brunette before leaping into the air, the blade of his sword connecting with Rin, he then flipped in mid-air and landed a few meters away.

"Rin!" Obito cried out as he watched as Rin's body was cut up into several pieces, he then flipped through seals, "KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU! Great Fireball Technique!" A torrent of flames erupted from Obito's lips which Cloud rolled out of the way of. Obito drew a pair of kunai and rushed Cloud, the swordsman using his sword to block each of the Uchiha's strikes, it was fortunate for the blond that Obito had little experience when it came to using his Sharingan meaning that he could not counter all of Cloud's attacks. After a few minutes of fighting Cloud found an opening and delivered a kick to Obito's midsection knocking him back, again the orange/red energy radiated off Clouds body and he unleashed a series of vicious slashes on Obito, the kanji for 'Bad Luck' forming with each slash (Cross Slash).

Whist the fight between Cloud and the two resurrected Konoha ninja Jiraiya noticed one of the dead Oto ninja was close to his position and that part of the nins face mask had been ripped away. His curiosity peeked Jiraiya examined the body and what he found made his blood boil. "Orochimaru, you bastard." Jiraiya growled holding up the unmasked Oto soldier, revealing to Kakashi and Tsunade that the man was a perfect copy of 'Naruto'.

"Orochimaru, you didn't…" Tsunade said, her eyes wide in horror.

"They're all like these aren't they?" Jiraiya said not bothering to hide his anger, "Each and every member of your army is just a copy of Naruto."

"I simply used it for the purpose it was meant for." Orochimaru said off handily, he looked over at Sarutobi, "I'm sure you remember sensei, the state the village was in after the second shinobi war. How a large percentage of our military forces had been decimated leaving us weakened and vulnerable. You had the perfect opportunity to rebuild our forces, had you had the nerve to proceed Konoha could have become the dominant military force in the entire ninja world."

"But what would it have cost us, yes it would have given us great strength but what sort of legacy would I have left if I had allowed it to continue." Sarutobi told the snake like man, "That is why I had copies of all the notes and data we had of the project made and called a summit of the Kages. It was there that I told them what Konoha had done. I then distributed the copies to each of them and before their eyes I destroyed the originals so we could never use it again and they in turn agreed to do the same."

"Ha, you naïve old fool. Did you honestly think they would have kept their word having something so fruitful dumped in their laps." Orochimaru snorted, "The Mizukage tried for years to get the technology to work only to meet with failure."

"Let me guess, you just happened to be in the area and offered to take it off his hands." Kakashi said.

"What can I say, I can be rather persuasive." Orochimaru replied.

Just then he felt something wrap around his collar and found himself staring into Tsunade's angry gaze, "Enough of this crap, who cares how you got the technology. Where's Naruto?"

"Him, who knows," Orochimaru said in an uncaring tone, "I haven't seen him in years." "What!" Tsunade exclaimed, "But to make your clones you'd need to have him around to have a template for his DNA."

"What is going on, why would Orochimaru have Naruto?" Sarutobi asked in a firm tone. Again Kakashi Jiraiya and Tsunade looked away.

"Yes you three, go on. One of you tell the old man, tell him how the village kicked little Naruto out because they decided they liked the Uchiha kid better." Orochimaru sneered, "Not that it mattered in the end, Sasuke still came to me on his own. His lust for power was something that neither you nor the village could contain."

"You did what?" Sarutobi exclaimed, he glared at the four people gathered around him, "You banished Naruto?"

"Orochimaru planted a curse mark on Sasuke and the little shit decided to abandon the village. We sent a team after him, Naruto included, and they were successful in retrieving him. However both councils weren't happy with the condition that Naruto brought him back in and they exiled him and placed a KOS on him." Kakashi said, disappointment colouring his tone, "However, maybe you could be as kind as to explain as to how you managed to get your slimy hands on him." "What can I say the Goddess of fortune smiled upon me, I needed a subject for cloning and who better than Konoha's ex-Jinchūriki?" Orochimaru replied.

"I said enough." Tsunade snapped giving her ex-teammate a violant shake, "I'm going to ask you again, Where. Is. Nar. Ru. To?"

"I. Don't. Know." Orochimaru replied mimicking the blonds tone, "There was an incident at the facility I was holding him at and during the confusion they both escaped."

"They?" Jiraiya asked.

"The original Naruto and the first successful clone." Orochimaru replied, "Sensei, if you please." Sarutobi grabbed a hold of Tsunade and managed to pull her off of Orochimaru and threw her over to where Kakashi and Jiraiya were. "Arigato sensei, now if you'll excuse me I have a village to crush." The pale man leapt into the air, at the same moment he passed overhead Cloud looked up and saw him and jumped after him. As he hurtled towards the nearest tree Orochimaru felt something latch onto one of his legs and looking down saw Cloud, his shin clutched tightly in the swordsman gripping.

"Oh no you don't." Cloud said firmly, he then swung himself around in mid-air and released the snake user sending him crashing into the ground. Letting out a groan Orochimaru looked up and found Cloud standing over him, the tip of his sword pointed at his throat.

"Damn you…" Orochimaru snarled just then something occurred to him, _'Could it be….?'_ A smirk spread across his face, "How interesting, after all this time the last thing I ever would have expected was to find you here of all places. I guess in a way it's quite fitting actually"

A look of confusion appeared on Cloud's face, "Huh?"

"CLOUD LOOK OUT!" Tsunade cried snapping the blond out of his stupor and looking round saw a newly reformed Obito and Rin as well as Sarutobi rushes towards him.

"DIIIIEEEE!" Orochimaru yelled. There was a burst of air and to his surprise Cloud found Kakashi Tsunade and Jiraiya surrounding him blocking Obito Rin and Sarutobi.

"Cloud, are you alright?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about me." Cloud replied.

A frown formed on Hiruzen's face, _'Cloud…?'_

Cloud looked over at Hiruzen and another flood of memories flashed through his mind, however unlike the others which had been filled with pain and violence these ones were…pleasant. Staring at the old man filled him with a sense of warmth and safety, like those a child would have about their favorite grandparent or relative. _'This feeling…'_

Inside the Kyuubi's cage, the beast cursed, _'Damnit, why did it have to be him…'_

"Cloud, how strong are you?" Jiraiya asked.

"Why?" was Cloud's response.

"I ask because it seems you'll have to be the one to deal with Orochimaru. Kakashi Tsunade and I will take our fight with Obito, Rin and Sarutobi someplace else leaving you to deal with him." The toad sage said firmly.

"Are you sure that's such a wise idea?" Tsunade inquired.

"I'm not hearing any of you coming up with any alternatives." Jiraiya replied, "Sides he's taken down Sephiroth twice, so Orochi-chan here shouldn't be a problem."

"Very well then." Kakashi said, "Cloud, I'm trusting you take care of Orochimaru." He then looked over at his dark haired friend, "That fine with you Obito?"

"Fine with me, you and I still have some stuff to catch up on." Obito replied. The six Konoha affiliates then vanished in the blink of an eye leaving Cloud and Orochimaru behind.

"Well it seems that it's just us now." The snake nin said, a shit eating grin spreading across his face, "This should be interesting."

Cloud said nothing; he gripped the handle of his weapon tighter as he waited for his opponent to make his move.

* * *

In another part of the village the air was filled with the sounds of metal striking metal. From her position Sakura shifted her focus from healing her wounds to watching as Sasuke engaged the masked ninja that had arrived. Despite her lack of familiarity with Kenjutsu even she could tell that her former teammate was utterly outclassed as the masked ninja seemed to be taking the fight in stride.

Kitsune watched as Sasuke lunged at him preparing to deliver another wild swipe at him which the blond oh so casually side stepped out of the way of. "Come on, don't tell me that really the best you can do." He said in a mocking tone, "Whoever taught you to use that sword must suck even harder then you."

Sasuke let out a growl, he the slashed at Kitsune again who without any effort blocked it. "Looks like I'm actually going to have to teach you how to use that sword of yours to properly." Kitsune said offhandedly, "First your grip is all wrong, you're holding it too tight; you keep that up then…" Kitsune then unleashed a barrage of strikes at Sasuke knocking the weapon out of the Uchiha's hands; seeing his chance Kitsune delivered a vicious kick to Sasuke's chest knocking him to the ground. "…that's gonna happen." Kitsune said plainly.

From his position on the ground Sasuke let out a growl as he stared up as his opponent ran his pointer and index fingers along the blade of his katana, _'Damn, this guy…'_ Reaching behind him Sasuke grabbed his sword and scrabbled back to his feet.

"Heh, looks like recess is over." Kitsune said off handidly as he pretended to admire the blade of his sword, "Alright, class is back in session." And so the two went at it again, their weapons striking again and again. Kitsune once more was baring down on Sasuke with his superior Kenjutsu ability and every so often would make a comment like "You're putting too much weight on your right leg" or "Come on, lunge…parry…strike…"

_"Enough of this…'_ Sasuke inwardly growled. Kitsune was about to strike at the Uchiha when Sasuke vanished and reappeared on a nearby rooftop. "KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU! Great Fireball Technique!" A torrent of flames was unleashed from the Uchiha's mouth at the masked ninja. Kitsune looked up as saw the flames rushing towards him. Kitsune's hand began to glow as chakra was released, the chakra then snaked its way down and wrapped around the blade of the masked ninja's weapon. "FUUTON: SHIPPU GIRI! Gale Cut!" Kitsune gave a swing of his sword and a large wave of air was unleashed, it collided with the fire and, to Sakura and Sasuke's amazement, sliced through it. Sasuke leaped off the roof seconds before the wave stuck the building cut it in half. As he landed a feeling of weariness overcame Sasuke and he began panting, _'Damnit, I spent a lot of chakra to use Kirin and I just used up more on that failed fireball...I'm feeling the effects now. I can't needlessly waste chakra, I need to conserve it.'_ The sound of an object flying through the air caught his attention and he was just able to block Kitsune's wakizashi, the weapon clattering on the ground near Sakura's position, and rolled out of the way of Kitsune as he swung at him with his sword. He avoided a few more of the masked blonds strikes and managed to roll behind him and swipe out at his legs, Kitsune jumped over Sasuke's strike however this gave the Uchiha the opportunity to get back to his feet. Sasuke then lunged at Kitsune's tuned back, his sword extended in front of him, intending to bury the blade between the masked man's shoulder blades. Kitsune swung his sword arm over his shoulder and blocked the Uchiha's blade with his own, he then swung round to face his opponent.

"Huh, not bad Uchiha." He commented, "You might be a worthwhile opponent after all." Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his frustration was coming to a boil. First his former teammate had not only been able to one up his a couple of times and avoid his most powerful technique and now this man, as much as he hated to admit it, was proving to be much better with his sword than he was. Although it was entirely his own fault since In the past he had never bothered to learn very much in the way of Kenjutsu beyond the basics, then again Orochimaru was hardly a master swordsman himself, and had just always fallen back on his Sharingan to make up for his own lack of experience. Now that he thought about it he couldn't remember of the last time he had been in a fight that had lasted this long, it possibly might have been when he fought Naruto at the Valley of the End. _'This isn't working, I need a tactic.'_ Sasuke thought, he pondered this whilst Kitsune did his running his fingers along the blade of his sword thing, a sly grin on his face under his mask. _'Ok that's what I'll do.'_ Forming a seal several copies of Sasuke appeared either side of the Uchiha.

_"Clones huh. Ok then Uchiha, let see what you're planning.'_ Kitsune though as he channeled more wind chakra into his sword before he moved into engage the multiple Sasuke's. "FUUTON: SHIPPU BURE-DO! Hurricane Blade!" with a swing of his weapon Kitsune released a hurricane force wind that tore through several of the clones, he then ducked as one of the Sasuke's lashed out at him and through a punch at the Uchiha only to have it vanish when his fist made contact. He wasn't given time to try and figure out which of the Sasuke's was the real one as the other copies were upon him and he was forced to fend them off. From his position Sasuke watched as his clones engaged Kitsune, deciding that they were providing enough of a distraction he began flipping through seals for a lower level fire jutsu. "KATON: ENDAN! Fireball!" Sasuke fired off a fireball from his mouth at his opponent.

"LOOK OUT!" Sakura yelled catching Kitsune's attention just in time for the fireball to hit him in the face, the force of the attack knocking him off his feet, his mask shattering as he hit the ground. A small smirk spread across Sasuke's face as he watched Kitsune hit the ground, the blond man had been dominating him so it felt good to be able to repay some of the frustrations that the Uchiha had suffered since engaging both this man and Sakura. Kitsune groaned as he pushed himself up onto his elbow, raising his fingers to feel his face the appendages were met by soft flesh instead of cool porcine. Grabbing his sword Kitsune rose to his feet and looked up to meet Sasuke's eyes revealing his face to the Uchiha as well as Sakura.

Sasuke's eyes momentarily widened in surprise before his feature turned into his more typical stoic look, "You, after all this time. Guess I shouldn't really be surprised."

Sakura meanwhile looked on, her breath catching in her throat at the sight of the Kumo ninja's face. _'Is it…after all these years can it really be him…?'_ "N…Naruto?"

* * *

Far away from the battles that were raging in Konoha a large group of Suna ninja was making its ways to towards their allies, they had crossed the border that separated the two countries that by nightfall the previous day and set up camp there but were now making their final push towards Konoha. The whole trip had been conducted almost entirely in silence, with the exception of someone relaying an order; each and every one present was focused on their goal. At the head of army was Gaara, the one time Jinchūriki of the Shukaku and now their Kage. At his side were his two siblings, Temari and Kankuro, each of them were just as anxious as their brother to reach Konoha. _'Shikamaru, you lazy ass.'_ Temari thought sternly, _'You better not be dead when I get there, cos if you are…'_

* * *

Elsewhere high above the clouds the crew of the Shera were also on their way, they had reached the Land of Waves an hour ago and had just crossed the border of Hi no Kuni and were racing towards Konoha. On the bow of the flying craft Tifa stared out of the large window watching the clouds as they passed them by.

_'Cloud…'_

* * *

AN: Season's greetings one and all, I was hoping to get this up by Boxing Day but stuff happened so concuder this a belated Christmas gift. It took me a while to get this finished but this chapter is done, stuff happened and things was revealed. So what did everyone think and was it worth the wait?

Before I get to anything else I want to say one thing, Kishimoto stole my idea.

My proof reader Jole AKA Jokerisdaking had a few quires and I figured I'd answer them here in case anyone else was curious.

"I question you using the descriptor of big ass sword." Sorry, I'll try avoid doing that in future.

"Where did Ino go, you seemed to be setting hr up as a main character but now shes just disappeared from the story entirely." Yeah it did seem that way, I promise she'll be reappearing once the Invasion arc is over.

"Cloud once again kind of fades into the background for most of the chapter, for a main character he hasn't done or said much for several chapters." Uh yeah, sorry about that.

"I like what you've done with the three Naruto's, creating 3 paths that Naruto could have followed

Cloud is the path Naruto's life took

Kitsune is who Naruto would have been if he had remained a ninja (I noticed they both like to use swords)

Cassius is Naruto gone over to the dark side, that's a nice touch, though I do wonder if the evil Cassius is really as loyal to Orochimaru as everyone thinks he is. If he followed his brothers Kitsune and Cloud rate of strength development then his strength and power he might actually secretly be stronger then his master eh?" Thank you, glad you like it, as for both Cloud and Kitsune both using swords well Kenjutsu does seems to be a key part of beings a Kumo ninja's so it would make sense for Kitsune to be at use them as well. Plus Cloud and Kitsune both use different types of swords

Intresting little insight into my creative process (ok maybe not interesting) originally I was planning to have Kitsune to use Zanbato swords to distinguish him from Sasuke but then he would be using the same kind of sword as Cloud so I changed it.

"Big plot hole, Kabuto just spent the latest chapter of the manga explaing how impure resurrection works, making a particular not of how it couldn't be used to resurrect the third hokage, you need to figure out how Orochimaru got around that rule or rewrite the scene." Uh yeah that is a pretty big plot hole. I wrote most of this chapter before Kabuto's explination of how Edo Tenshi works, Orochimaru was able to get a hold of a piece of Sarutobi's DNA before he died. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Anyway this year's Naruto has been a rather mixed. The first couple of months were filled with absolute shit but over the rest of the year it got better and we are now the war between allied nations and Madara is well and truely underway plus we have Kabuto who's got something up his sleeve. If you want good Naruto then don't include Sasuke.

As for the bits with the Suna and Avalanche at the end, they were more or less there to let people know that yes they are coming.

OK I'm done, hope you all had a good Christmas. that you got some nice stuff, drank some good drink, ate some good food and and enjoyed Doctor Who.

Peace out everyone, please post your comments and I'll see y'all in the new year.


	16. Chapter 11

AN  
"Blah"- Normal Speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
"BLAH"- Jutsu  
**"Blah"**- Summons Biju

* * *

_Naruto/Final Fantasy VII_  
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 11

Invasion Arc: Part 4

Cloud stared over at his pale skinned opponent, the snake like man's long ebony hair flowing in the breeze whilst his yellow eyes stared back into his cobalt blue ones. This man, whom he'd heard referred to as Orochimaru, was the one he assumed was the one responsible for the attack on Konoha, the one responsible for the death and destruction. He knew nothing of this man, of his reputation or what he was capable of, however he could almost taste the aura of that radiated off this man.

A chuckle passed the snake users lips, "This must be karma, after all this time I find you here of all places."

"What are you talking about?" Cloud said, "I don't know you and as far as I know we've never met."

"So you don't remember then. Oh well no matter." Orochimaru said off handily.

Just then a large bulge formed in the pale man's throat which moved upwards and from his mouth emerged a snake with a sword in its jaws which Orochimaru took hold of and drew it forth.

"That's disgusting." Cloud commented.

"Trust me; you're not the first to tell me that." Orochimaru replied.

Cloud then lunged at sannin combining it with a mighty swing of First Tsurugi which Orochimaru blocked with his Kusanagi.

"Hmmm, you certainly put quite a bit of strength behind that." Orochimaru said offhandedly, a smile formed on his lips, "My my you have grown strong, stronger then I had originally intended."

"What are you talking about?" Cloud demanded, however he received no answer.

Orochimaru jumped backwards and extended his arms out in front of him, "SEN'EIJASH! Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" dozens of snakes emerged from the man's sleeves and flew at Cloud who jumped out of the way and slashed at the reptiles that slithered towards him.

Charging his sword with energy Cloud released a Blade Beam to blow the reptiles away, a sly grin formed on Orochimaru's face as he watched as Cloud dispatched the snakes he'd summoned, _'Oh yes, such power and strength. I might have to make some changes to the training program I put my troops through.'_

He then looked over in the direction of the village, _'And it seems that the other one is here as well, things have certainly become for interesting then I had originally anticipated.'_

* * *

Sakura looked on, her breath catching in her throat at the sight of the Kumo ninja's face. _'Is it…after all these years can it really be him…?'_ "N…Naruto?"

"Well this is something I wasn't expecting." Sasuke said in a mirthless tone, "Team 7 reunited after so long." Kitsune said nothing, his cold eyes fixed on his former teammate as the last of his broken mask fell away from his face.

"What no come back dobe, I'd thought you'd be happy that I had returned to this cesspool of a village."

"I think you've got me confused with someone else. Whatever ties I had to you or this village were severed a long time ago when my so-called friends turned their backs on me." Kitsune said firmly, words which shook Sakura to the core, "And as for our team, it's as dead as any loyalty I had to this place. As of right now Sasuke all I want from you is to see you dead."

The two males began walking towards one another and a clang rang out as their weapons connected once again, once again the two engaged one another their weapons striking again and again. However Kitsune's demeanour change, the cockiness and smack talk was gone and now he seemed a cold and focused on the task at hand.

"I must say I'm surprised at you Naruto, when we were young all you'd ever talk about was how you were going to be Hokage. But now it seems to me that you want to see this place raised to the ground just as much as I do." Sasuke told the blond.

"Don't compare me to you Sasuke." Kitsune snapped, "Unlike you I was actually loyal to this place, I would have given my all to protect the village and the people who live within it walls. You however never cared anything about that; you only ever cared about your vendetta against Itachi. Everything else was meaningless."

He then unleashed another powerful slash at Sasuke who side stepped of out the way.

"So you say, but your eyes tell me a different story. I can see you want to make this place suffer, to dish out the same hurt and pain that it inflicted on you." Sasuke commented in a matter-o-factly way, "To be honest I think like this new you, so what say we work together and annihilate this stain of a village. Konoha must pay for what it did to my clan and you have just as much of a reason to see this place destroyed. That is what you want right, us to be together again."

Just then a gust of wind kicked up blowing dust and debris into the air as a small tornado of chakra formed around the blade Kitsunes sword as he stared kunai at the rogue Uchiha.

"I said never to compare ever me to you Sasuke. I may have my grudges against this place, however I don't plan to ever lower myself to the levels you've descended to." Kitsune spat, "FUTON: KAZEKIRI! Wind Cutter!" Kitsune then lunged at Sasuke, to slice the Uchiha in two with his wind enhanced blade.

As Kitsune charged Sasuke flipped through seals and raised his crackling hand into the air. "RAITON: CHIDORI SHI-RUDO! One Thousand Birds Shield!"

Just as with Kirin a lightning bolt struck Sasuke's hand only this time a dome/cage like structure formed around him causing Kitsune to skid to a halt. Kitsune then swung his blade and released a burst of wind at the lightning cage; the wind jutsu struck the lightning structure however couldn't penetrate it.

Kistune frowned, he then channelled more wind chakra around his sword, "FUUTON: DAITOPPA! Great Breakthrough!" With another swing of his weapon the blond ninja launched a powerful burst of wind at the Uchiha however it also could not penetrate Sasuke's defences.

"Give it up dobe, whilst it may not be on the same level as Susanoo, my Chidori Shield is capable of warding off all but the strongest attacks." Sasuke told his former teammate.

"KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU! Shadow Clone!" Kitsune summoned several clones that surrounded the electrical dome.

"FUUTON: DAITOPPA! Great Breakthrough!" all of them cried and each launched a burst of wind at the dome but even the combined attack couldn't make a dent in Sasuke's shield.

"Give it up Uzumaki, you can't hope to breach my shield." Sasuke taunted, "However my shield can do more than just repel your weak attacks, it also has another use."

The Uchiha channelled more of his chakra and several bolts of electrical energy were released from the dome and struck each of the clones and dispelled each of them, Kitsune managed to avoid it using Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to vanish and reappear on a nearby roof.

_'Damnit, that shield is a major pain. It seems pretty impenetrable….'_ Kitsune thought, just then he remembered what Sasuke had just said, _'Could that work, if I used that jutsu?'_

Off to the side Sakura had finished healing herself and was also analysing the situation.

_'Sasuke, he's gotten more powerful than anyone could have imagined. First that jutsu where he controls lightning and now this shield.'_ She thought as she stood up and observed as Kitsunes clones were destroyed, _'A barrier that serves as both offence and defence, this is quite a technique Sasuke has created.'_

Just then something occurred to the pinkett. _'What if…if something happened to disrupt Sasuke's concentration then the just maybe the shield might be weakened enough to break through it.'_

"DOTON: TSUCHI HASHIRA! Earth Wall!" the pinkette cried out and slammed her hands into the ground, causing it to shake and a large pillar rose up underneath the rouge Uchiha's catching him off guard as his shield began to fluctuate vanished. Seeing an opening Kitsune launched himself at Sasuke, a familiar orb of swirling energy in one hand.

"RASANGAN! Spiral Sphere!" he cried out as the energy sphere struck the barrier, sparks of energy radiating off of it as the two techniques collided before the spiral sphere ripped through it and Kitsune rushed towards the Uchiha. Cursing Sasuke used Shushin to avoid Kitsune and reappeared on the ground, his gaze falling on Sakura.

Letting out a growl Sasuke rushed at the pink haired konouchi who grabbed Kitsunes discarded wakizashi and used it to block Sasuke's weapon, channeling chakra into her arms Sakura engaged him however, despite Kitsunes claims that the Uchiha's Kenjutu skills were lacking, she was barley shrugged off each of Sasuke's blows.

Above Kitsune watched as Sasuke and Sakura went at it, as he watched the pinkette engage the Uchiha several difference feelings stirred within the swordsman as he watched, to him, a rather alien sight since Sakura had been one of the bastard Uchiha's biggest fans back in the day and here she was locked in battle with the object of her supposed affection.

Whilst he was firm in convictions towards Uchiha Sakura on the other hand was more of a murky area. Given all she had done to him be it directly or indirectly part of him wanted her to suffer as he had but no matter how much he wanted to hate her he couldn't bring himself to do so, those damned feelings of old just didn't want to die.

_'Damnit, why did this crop up now of all times. After everything she did to me and put me through, why can't I hate her?'_ Glancing at Sakura once more a frustrated growl escaped his lips. _'Crap…'_ he then threw himself back into the fray.

Sakura let out a grunt as she blocked another of Sasuke's attacks, like before keeping up with her former teammate was proving difficult and the vile aura that he was giving off was so thick it made the task even harder. _'What is this, some kind of chakra? Whatever it is its vile, I feel like I could choke on it.'_

She watched as Sasuke made another attempt to slash at her and readied the wakizashi to defend herself, however the attack turned out to be a feint and seeing his opening Sasuke used her moment of confusion as an attempt to impale her.

Before he could there was a powerful burst of wind followed by a clang rang out and Kitsune was standing before Sakura, blocking Sasuke's weapon with his own. He then delivered a mighty kick to the brooder's midsection forcing him back. "Naruto…" The pinkette managed to gasp out.

Kitsune peered over his shoulder and fixed the pink haired medic with a cold glare. "Stay out of this." He said coldly, his words causing the breath to catch in Sakura's throat.

"CHIDORI KOKEN! One Thousand Birds Sword!" just then the air was filled with the sound of birds chirping and looking round the pair saw Sasuke, lightning chakra running the length of his sword. "You…I'm, gonna kill you…" The Uchiha snarled.

Kitsune said nothing; he simply made a one handed hand sign. "FUUTON: SHIPPU BURE-DO! Hurricane Blade!" Wind chakra ran down the length of Kitsune's weapon creating a whirlwind like effect which kicked up dust and debris into the air.

Both Sasuke and Kitsune glared at one another before launching themselves at one another at high speed and their weapons colliding again, sparks and powerful gusts of wind radiating from the two weapons when they clashed. From the side lines Sakura watched as her two former teammates went at one another, despite everything that was going on, she couldn't help but flash back to old days when the three of them were part of Team 7.

The arguments and the fight that the two of them used to have, even the one they had on top the hospital roof now seemed like a school yard scuffle to the fight that they were having now. Despite knowing it for some time there was no doubt in her mind that Team 7 was officially dead. "Sasuke…Naruto…"

Kitsune ducked out of the way as Sasuke's slashed at him again; putting a fair distance between himself and Sasuke he then preformed a familiar seal. "TAJU KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU! Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

There was a large puff of smoke and two dozen clones popped into existence, with a cry they all charged at Sasuke who slashed out at them with his sword. One of the clones punched Sasuke in the face which knocked him into another who delivered a mighty kick to the Uchiha's back.

Several more clones dashed at Sasuke and grabbed a hold of him whilst other leapt into the air, the ones on the ground then launched Sasuke into the air via a series of consecutively kick's.

Whilst this was going on the original Kitsune formed a Rasangan before being launched into the air just above Sasuke allowing him to slam the ball of chakra into the Uchiha's chest. "UZUMAKI NARUTO RASANGAN RENDAN! Naruto Uzumaki Spiral Sphere Combo!"

The force of this sent Sasuke smashing back down into the ground with enough force to create a small crater. "Damnit…" Sasuke groaned as he pried himself off the ground. As he did a shadow fell over him and looking over saw Sakura standing there pointing Kitsune's wakizashi at him.

"Stay down Sasuke and don't move. You're under arrest." She told him, her voice hard.

"What are you doing?" Kitsune snapped at her, "I told you to stay out of this."

"Back down Naruto. I don't need you to protect me anymore." Sakura told him.

"This has nothing to do with protecting you." Kitsune retorted, "I told you that because I don't need you getting in my way."

This caught Sakura completely off guard, "What?"

"You heard me Haruno; I don't want you getting in my way." Kitsune stated. "Like I said I have severed all ties to this village, that includes you. As far as I'm concerned I don't give a damn what happens to you." He then looked over at the spot where Sasuke had hit the ground only to find that the Uchiha was missing.

"Damnit…" he snarled, he then slammed his hand into the ground and in a puff of smoke both Romulus and Remus were before him.

**"Naruto-sama, why have you called us away from the battle?"** Romulus asked.

**"Yeah, I was having fun."** Remus pouted.

"There was a guy lying in that crater, find him." Kitsune ordered.

Remus let out a 'tsk' but complied, he and his brother began sniffing round the crater for a few seconds before letting out a howl. **"We got the scent, we best get moving."** Romulus said in a calm tone.

**"Ha, like some monkey can out run us."** Remus scoffed.

"Good job." Kitsune told them, "Let's move." The two wolves took off with Kitsune following behind.

Sakura watched as her blond former teammate dashed off after his two summons, what had happened to turn the once cheerful upbeat and mischievous blond to the person he was now. _"I have severed all ties to this village, that includes you. As far as I'm concerned I don't give a damn what happens to you."_

_'Naruto, what's happened to you?'_ Gripping the wakizashi in her hand she dashed after Kitsune.

* * *

Less than an hour away the force from Suna was resting up before pressing onto Konoha. From his position the branch of a nearby from Garra watched as his troops as they took advantage of the down time that they had been given before the last big push, each one ready to put everything on the line in order to defend their Konoha allies.

Just then a scout appeared at the red headed Kages side and leaning forward whispered something into his ear.

"Are you sure about this?" Garra asked, the scout nodded. _'I thought they were staying out of this, this may complicate things.'_

"Go back and continue to observe, make sure you are not discovered. We shouldn't be too far behind." The scout nodded and then vanished. Just then Temari and Kankuro was at his side.

"Garra, what's wrong?" Temari asked.

"I've just been informed that a force is approaching Konoha from the north." Garra informed them.

"Reinforcements from Oto?" Kankuro inquired.

"Go tell the men to gear up; we're going to go meet this force." Garra ordered.

"But what about Konoha, if we don't back them up they'll be annihilated." Kankuro protested.

"If we allow this force to pass through then it might not matter." Garra said firmly, "Go tell the men I want them ready in five minutes."

"Alright." Temari said, she and Kankuro then vanished.

* * *

Back in Konoha Sasuke was resting against the wall of a building trying to catch his breath after battle he'd had with Kitsune.

_'Damn you Uzumaki…getting in my way again.'_ Just then he felt two familiar chakra signatures and a few seconds later both Suigetsu and Jugo were at his side, several dark marks were on the orange haired man's face.

"Damn boss, you look like crap." Suigetsu commented, a sly grin on his face.

"Are you alright Uchiha-san?" Jugo asked.

Sasuke fixed the pair with a cold glare. Before he could say anything to the pair the sound of footsteps was heard and Kitsune came into view accompanied by two wolves, it seems that the blond ninja wasn't prepared to let him go.

_'I don't have time for this…'_ "You two deal with him, I have other things to do."

"Tsk, whatever." Suigetsu snorted, he drew the large Kubikiribōchō sword from his back and prepared to engage his new target, "Let's go freak."

With both Romulus and Remus at his side Kitsune dashed through the streets in an attempt to catch up with Sasuke, as he did images of his time as part of Team 7 flashed through his mind. _'Sasuke…I've always been in your shadow no matter what I did, what I achieved, I was always passed over in favour of you. Well no more. I will put an end to this struggle between us and it will end with your death.'_

Just then Suigetsu appeared before the blond ninja and swung the Kubikiribōchō at him causing Kitsune to come skidding to a halt so he could jump backwards to avoid Suigetsu's attack, however as Jugo leapt down from a nearby roof top with the intent of nailing Kitsune with a punch only to have the blond roll out of the way at the very last second.

_'Damn, that was too close…'_ Kitsune thought as he looked over and saw the crater that the orange haired man's fist had left. Suigetsu and Jugo however didn't let up and soon Kitsune found himself doing his best to avoid and block their assaults.

From his position Sasuke watched his two companions engage Kitsune. He reached into his shirt and took out a small metal box, opened it and took out a pill which he popped into his mouth. Seconds after swallowing it his feelings of tiredness and his aches and pains vanished and were replaced with a new strength vitality.

"I'm going, Suigetsu Jugo, make sure he doesn't leave here alive." He ordered, "Good bye Uzumaki, whilst I'd prefer to have the privilege of killing you myself at least this way I know you won't be getting in my way." Sasuke said before he began walking away.

"SASUKE, DAMN YOU…." Kitsune cried out as the raven haired man retreated, "SASUKE…GET BACK HERE, SASUKE!"

Kistune tried to go after the Uchiha only to receive a shot to the face courtesy of Jugo that sent his sprawling. "For what it's worth I'm sorry." Jugo said as he stood over the blond ninja, his foot firmly planted on blonde's chest.

Just then his arms transformed into a large axe but he could use it to finish off Remus appeared out of nowhere and sank his teeth into Jugo's neck closely followed by Romulus who bit down on the orange haired man's leg.

Grunting in pain Jugo set about trying to shake the two samurai summons off of him, Jugo removing his leg from Kitsune's chest allowing the blond to bring his knees up to his chest and deliver a double kick to Jugo's chest knocking him backwards.

Flipping back up to his feet Kitsune retrieved his weapon just in time to block another attack from Suigetsu. "That sword, the Kubikiribōchō." The blond swordsman said solemnly as he blocked another of the former Kiri ninja's attacks.

"Ah so you know about it." Suigetsu said, "But of course you would, you were with Sasuke when he met Zabuza in Nami no Kuni."

"You disgusting piece trash, that sword was placed upon the grave of Momochi Zabuza so there's only one way you could have gotten it." Kitsune snarled.

"So what if I did, all that matters that its mine now." Suigetsu retorted. The two then traded blows.

Back with the wolf twins they were doing their best to deal with Jugo who was trying to shake them off. Letting out a growl Jugo rammed back first into a nearby building which caused Remus to loosen his grip on the orange haired man who then tossed him off.

**"REMSU!"** Romulus cried, he then went to dash over to his brother's side.

**"You idiot."** Remus snarled which confused his brother momentarily before being forced to dodge a swing from Jugo's axe hand.

**"You soft minded fool."** Remus growled as he attempted to get back to his feet, _**'This is just great, even when I'm in a crap load of pain and got a dislocated leg I still need to go bail him out.'**_

Gritting his teeth the black wolf summoned up his chakra. **"DOTON: ****TSUCHI ****KIBA! Earth Fang!"** the ground shook and several spiked columns rose and impaled Jugo.

Looking over Romulus saw his brother limping over to him, **"Brother, your hurt." **

**"Oh wow you figure that out all by yourself, you're a fricking genius."** Remus said in a biting tone.

**"Remus, this one is a tough opponent. Too strong for either of us to combat alone, to have a chance we must combine out power."** Romulus told his brother.

**"Urgh I hate having to do that." ** Remus growled, **"But I guess we have no other choice."**

**"FUUTON: URUFU HOEMASU! Wolf Howl!"/"KATON: MOETEIMASU URUFU HOEMASU! Burning Wolf Howl!"**

Channelling chakra into their mouth's both brothers unleashed their jutsu's, Romulus releasing a high pitched burst of wind and Remus gout of flames.

**"Tsk, that's it. Well that's annoying."** Remus snorted.

However his brother didn't share his feelings on the subject. _**'I don't know, something doesn't feel right about this. It doesn't feel like it should be that easy.'**_ Romulus thought.

The flames soon began to die down revealing the destruction the Katon/Fuuton combination had caused, amongst the destruction, still impaled on the earth spikes, was Juugo the left side of his body covered in black markings. The enrage orange haired man then let out a roar of anguish before he tore himself off the earth spikes and slowly began heading towards the two ninja animals.

**"Ah crap…."** Remus growled, he then made to launch himself at Jugo only to collapse to the ground as his injured leg gave out under him, **"Argh, damnit…"**

**"Remus!"** Romulus cried as he dashed to his brother's side. As he did Jugo's shadow descended over the pair, his axe arm raised above his head and made to bring it down on the pair. Before he could however before he could follow through something caught Jugo in the back which sent him flying and smashing into a building.

Looking up the brothers saw Sakura standing there, her glowing fist still outstretched from sending Jugo flying. "Are you two ok?" Sakura asked the two wolves.

**"We are now, thank you for the assistance."** Romulus told her.

**"Tsk, I could have taken him."** Remus said sounding slightly annoyed.

Sakura, who acted as if she hadn't heard him, knelt down over the black wolf and performed a diagnostic jutsu on him.

**"What are you doing?"** Remus demanded.

"Quiet you, let me work." Sakura told the summon, "Hmmm….you've broken your leg, cracked several ribs amongst other internal injuries." She looked over at Romulus, "He's in no condition to keep going; you need to get him treated."

**"Understood."** The white wolf said.

**"Hey, don't I get a say in this!"** Remus demanded.

Just then the sound of shifting rubble was heard and looking round they saw Jugo emerging from the debris. Taking a deep breath Sakura's featured twisted into a look of determination as she withdrew Kitsune's wakizashi.

"Get going you two, I'll handle this." She told the brothers.

**"Alright, let's go brother."** Romulus said.

Remus's response was a sinister sounding growl, **"Fine, but if you see that blond idiot tell him his tab just doubled."** The pair then vanished in a puff of smoke.

* * *

High above the earth the Shera raced through the clouds and raced towards its destination. "Alright everybody, we're closin in so git your assholes up here." Cid said into the ships intercom, within minutes the other members of Avalanche was of the bridge.

"Cid, what's our ETA?" Vincent asked.

"Minutes." Cid replied.

"Finally, I was getting really bored being cooped up on this flying scrap heap." Yuffie said, relief flooding her voice.

"Hey, what you say about my ship you snot nosed little skank?" Cid snarled at the young ninja.

"Cid." Tifa said in a firm tone, give Yuffie one last dark stare the blond captain returned his attention to the ships controls.

Within minutes the flying machine was approaching Konoha. "Ok, here we are." Cid told the others, "Better get yer asses in gear and get ready to head down there."

"Any chance of finding out what's going on down below?" Nanaki asked.

"Give me sec." Cid replied, he then rushed over to a console and began typing in commands, "Ok, I should be able to punch up a live satellite feed any second now." A minute later an image of the land below, zooming in several times Konoha came into view.

"Shit, looks like there's a pretty nasty lookin brawl goin on down there." Cid commented.

"Are you sure we've got the right place?" Tifa asked.

"Of course we're in the right place." Cid replied, "You questioning my sense of direction?"

"Wouldn't surprise me, they say it's one of the things to go when you get old." Yuffie said in a snide tone which earned her a dark glare from Vincent.

"Please children, let's all play nice." Red XIII spoke up, "Whatever the case this village was Cloud's last known destination and is the only clue we have."

"Nanaki is right, whatever the case this is the only lead we have so we head down there." Vincent said in a stern commanding tone, "Cid, I'm heading down there. Once I'm clear head towards that tower, everyone should be able to disembark there. After that go find a place to land."

He then turned to leave when he felt a hand grab his shoulder, looking round he found the stern visage of his wife standing there. "And where do you think you're going?" she said in a strict tone, "Do you really think you can just go off and head off into a war zone by yourself, you've got another thing coming mister?"

"What are you saying?" Vincent said firmly.

"I'm saying that I'm going with you." Tifa stated.

"Is there anything that I can say that can change your mind?" Vincent asked, although he pretty much knew the answer to this.

"No." Tifa replied.

"Just checking. Come on then." Vincent said, the pair then exited the bridge and headed for the ships launch bay.

* * *

Throughout the entire a rumbling was heard and looking up they watched as something large broke through the clouds above and hovered above the village. At the training grounds both Cloud and Orochimaru were amongst those who looked on although for different reasons.

"No way? Is that…it couldn't be…?" Cloud said under his breath, "They couldn't have…"

"So I take it that that's one of those airships I've heard about." Orochimaru commented, "Most impressive, although I wonder what one would be doing here?" he looked back over at Cloud.

"I must say today has certainly been one of surprises. First I find you here not to mention some other surprise visitors, Sasuke included." Orochimaru told our hero, "Do you even remember Sasuke?"

Cloud remained silent. "Is that no then? I wonder what could have happened to you since you escaped from my lab, I may just have to take you with me once I'm finished here." Orochimaru said off handily.

"What are you talking about, what lab?" Cloud asked.

"Oh so now you wish to talk." Orochimaru said, "Maybe I don't wish to be so talkative now."

"Tell me." Cloud demanded, he then lunged at the snake sannien and slashed at him only for the pale skinned man to dodge the swing.

"Round 2 then, why don't we make this more interesting." Biting his thumb Orochimaru spread some blood over a tattoo on his left arm before flipping through seals, "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU! Summoning Technique!"

Orochimaru slammed his onto the ground which resulted in a large burst of smoke, when it cleared it revealed a large sickly green snake with Nuke Nin standing on its head.

"What do you think Cloud, given all the different monsters you've fought a little thing like this should be no problem." Orochimaru sneered, "Now my pet, get him." The serpent let out a sinister hiss before lunging at Cloud who jumped out of the way, the snake's head kicking up a large cloud of dirt and debris as it hit the ground.

Inwardly cursing Cloud made a quick beeline for the forest that surrounded the area and leapt up into the treeline. "He's getting away, go get your dinner." Oroachimaru said sternly as the snake retracted its head from the ground, letting out another hiss the snake slithered towards the forest watching for any sign of is prey and from atop its head Orochimaru did the same.

_'Where are you Cloud?'_ Just then a beam of energy rushed through the foliage and struck the snake in the face causing it to rear up and let out a cry of pain.

"Stop wasting time, over there get him." Orochimaru ordered. Just then a rustle of leaves was head and the snake ninja looked around just in time to see Cloud land behind him. Sword at the ready Cloud charged Orochimaru who blocked his attack with his Kusanagi.

The two weapons collided over and over, sparks radiating off them as they did, before the glowing weapon was knocked out of the snake users hand during one of their exchanges.

Seeing his opening Cloud charged up and unleashed another Blade Beam Limit Break at, the attack catching Orochimaru and slicing him in two. However Cloud was given no time to feel any sense of victory as the two pieces of Orochimaru melted and transformed into a puddle of mud.

"What the…" His attention was caught as a sinister chuckle was heard and he whirled around in an attempt to locate the source of the sound. As he did he saw what looked like a boil or zit rise up from the snake's skin, sack then detached itself and took on a more cocoon like appearance before it split open revealing a rather gooey looking Orochimaru.

"Ok, that was just gross." Cloud commented.

The two began trading blows once more, during one of their exchanges Orochimaru struck Cloud in the chest with a pseudo Juuken strike with caught the blond swordsman in the chest which knocked him off balance, the snake's then bucked its head which threw Cloud off (Orochimaru applying chakra to his feet to avoid also being thrown off), twisting in midair Cloud managed to land on the branch of a nearby tree.

However Cloud wasn't given a chance to catch his breath as the snake was soon upon him, leaping from the branch seconds before the giant reptile head smashed into the tree before it began perusing him.

_'This isn't working; I can't keep dodging this thing.'_ Cloud thought as he avoided another of the snake's attempts to swallow him. Landing on another branch Cloud released another Blade Beam at the snake which caused it to let out a hiss of pain, seeing his chance Cloud launched himself from the branch to engage Orochimaru again however it wasn't to be.

The snake somehow unintentionally managed to swat Cloud with its head whilst writhing in pain sending him slamming into the ground where he skidded across it for a few feet before coming to a halt, blood oozing from his shoulder from the his landing. Groaning Cloud pushed himself off the ground, a large shadow descending over him as he did and looking saw the snake with the pale skinned ninja leering down on him from atop the serpents head.

"Is it, if it is I must say I'm rather disappointed?" Orochimaru said, "You're clearly not as powerful as I thought you were. It seems that your victories over Sephiroth were a total fluke. Ok my pet, get him." Letting out a hiss, the serpent lunged at Cloud again who scrambled to avoid the snake.

_'Ok, plan B.'_ Cloud thought letting out a pained grunt as he got back up to his feet. Wiping some blood from his wound onto one of the matria orbs on his wrist band and formed the ram seal, a green energy appeared at the swordsman's feet as well as dozens of yellow green red and white orbs with symbols on them which were drawn into his body. "Emerge and pass judgment…Ramuh."

A large bolt of lightning struck the earth only a few feet away from where Cloud was standing, a large pillar of rock and dirt rose up ground. Towering over Cloud was an elderly looking bald man with a long white beard and moustache clad in white robes and carrying a staff, lightning crackling around him. "Ramuh, Judgment Bolt…" Cloud ordered.

Raising his staff Ramuh created a flash of energy which released multiple lightning bolts that struck the snake, Orochimaru jumping clear of course, the reptile let out a final his before the elemental energy consumed it. Its task done the summon vanished and the pillar of rock then returned to the earth. Gasping for breath Cloud glared at Orochimaru who landed a few feet away from, a sneer present on the snake ninja's face.

"I take back what I said Mr Strife, that was indeed a rather impressive display." Orochimaru told the blond hero, "It makes me wonder what other tricks you have in that repertoire of yours, I'm even more tempted to take you back with when I'm done here." Cloud said nothing; he didn't want to give this man the satisfaction of a response.

Raising First Tsurigi Cloud prepared to engage the pale skinned man again.

* * *

In another part of the village the combined Iwa and Kusaga forces continued to press on further reaching deeper within the cities walls. The Konoha forces that had engaged them at the main gate was in retreat making their way towards the village centre, hoping to find reinforcements no doubt.

That was until the Shera's arrival. Like many others both the Tsuchikage and the Kusaga captain were trying to make sense of the airship's sudden appearance. "An airship, why didn't that snake bastard tell us that Konoha has an airship?" The Tsuchikage roared.

"Somehow I doubt that contraption belongs to this village," the Kusaga captain replied, "Konoha neither has the resources or facilities to build one."

"Did I ask for your opinion?" the Tsuchikage spat venomously.

"However this does raise the question of where this airship came from." The Kusaga captain went on, ignoring the Tsuchikage's comment, "Usually the only place one can be found is the port in Nami no Kuni. One possibility is that Konoha has found allies on the Eastern Continent, however if that were true then they would have sent more than one airship since, technologically superior or not, it would take more than that to combat our combined forces."

Before the Tsuchikage could offer his thoughts a man clad in Iwa's ninja garb appeared before him. "Lord Tsuchikage, I bring urgent news." The ninja told his leader, "Ninja bearing the symbol of Kumo have appeared outside the village."

"Kumo? Tell me does this mean that the Cloud has had a change of heart about joining in the destruction of this place?" the Tsuchikage asked.

"Um, no Tschikage-same. They are engaging our forces."

"Engaging?" The Tsuchikage spat, he then grabbed them man by his head and brought him eyelevel to himself, "Tell me, how many ninja have been accounted for."

"Um…er well…three." The messenger reported.

"What three hundred, three thousand?" the Tsuchikage demanded.

"No sir, just three. It was four but one of them broke off from the group and made his way inside the village after using the same justu as the Yondaime Hokage to clear a path for himself."

The elderly Kage let out an anguished cry as he snapped the messenger's neck. "THREE NINJA, MY ELITE TROOPS ARE BEING BESTED BY THREE NINJA'S!" the elderly Kage roared, he turned round and began walking back towards the gates, "I want those three dead, heads severed and cleansed and presented to me on a silver platter."

"Where are you going?" the Kusaga captain asked.

"To deal with these three little upstarts If Kumo thinks that three of their ninja it's got another thing coming, and I'll personally see to it."

"Think I'll tag along then, I'm curious to see the trio of ninja that are causing the Iwa army so much trouble."

The Tsuchikage snarled at the man before the two of them headed towards the gates with several of their ninja in tow.

* * *

AN Hey there everybody, new chapter.

OK see y'all part 2.


	17. Chapter 12

AN  
"Blah"- Normal Speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
"BLAH"- Jutsu  
**"Blah"**- Summon Biju

* * *

_Naruto/Final Fantasy VII_  
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 12

Invasion Arc: Part 5

Back at training ground 7 Cloud battle with Orochimaru continued. Unbeknown to the both of them their encounter was being observed. From his position Sasuke watched the pair as his former master and his target clashed. So this was the blond swordsman who had been able to stand against his brother, so far he'd yet to be impressed by the man.

Sure the summon he'd used to defeat Orochimaru's serpent had been a surprise however he'd yet to use any kind of technique or jutsu that could be used to take down Itachi.

Perhaps this man's ability to fight on equal terms with Itachi was an exaggeration, and if that were true it meant coming here had been an utter waste of Sasuke's time. Just then Sasuke felt a strange sensation, almost like a tingling in the back of his mind. Just then a familiar chuckle was heard.

"Hello Sasuke." Drawing his Kusanagi Sasuke began looking around looking for the source of the voice. "What you've forgotten my voice already, how disappointing seeing as it was only a few years ago you were at my side." The voice said in a sneering tone.

"Orochimaru…" Sasuke looked over to where the battle between the snake Sannien and the blond swordsman was going on, "But if you're over there then how….?"

"Why the Curse Mark of course; it allows me a limited mental connection with anyone who has one. It's quite useful for monitoring my agents." The disembodied voice of Orochimaru explained, "I knew from the moment you stepped inside this village that you were here and I knew that you were watching us, so why not come out and join us since there's no point in you hiding anymore."

Cloud had just unleashed another exchanged of blows with the pale skinned ninja when he felt a breeze kick and looking round saw a dark haired man in a white open shirt with a large collar and dark blue pants with a blue cloth hanging from halfway up his stomach to his knees with a purple rope belt around his waist, tied in a bow, in one hand was a hiltless sword and its scabbard was held in place by the rope. The man's left eye was marred by a nasty looking mark.

_'That guy, he kinda resembles that Itachi guy I fought in Suna.'_

"Ah Sasuke, how nice of you to join us." Orochimaru said in a tone of sadistic sounding mirth.

"Cut the crap Orochimaru, and stay out of my head. I never want catch you ever pulling something like that again." Sasuke told his former master.

"Oh Sasuke, that hurts my feelings." Orochimaru said in mock hurt.

"What are you two talking about?" Cloud asked, "Who are you anyway?"

"Why this is Sasuke Uchiha, the younger of the man you fought in Suna." Orochimaru informed the blond.

_'His younger brother…'_ Cloud thought, memories of his fight with Itachi flashed through his mind.

"I'm glad you're here Sasuke." Orochimaru went on, "After all." Sasuke glared at both Orochimaru and Cloud, his scowl deepening with each passing second.

"Ohh seems I hit a nerve." Orochimaru quipped, "Does it frustrate you Sasuke-chan, knowing that this man managed to accomplish more in one battle then you have in the last 10 years."

Sasuke let out a roar of anger and charged at Cloud, the blond swordsman blocking the Uchiha's sword with his own. _'Maybe I overdid it a little bit, ah at least this way I get to see just how much Sasuke has grown since well he escaped me. This should prove to be both interesting and amusing.'_ The snake Sannien quickly used Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)to vanish and reappear on the branch as Sasuke and Cloud went at it.

The two of them traded blows with one another, Cloud managing to force Sasuke into the air where the Uchiha did a flip before landing and charged at Cloud again.

* * *

In the launch bay of the Shera Vincent was securing himself to an air board in preparation of being launched, he then went through his inventory making sure he had everything he needed before drawing Cerberus's from its holster giving it one last check to make sure it was loaded and in working order since walking into a warzone with a dud weapon was pretty much the quickest way to die.

Once he was satisfied he glanced over at Tifa who was pulling on her black leather gloves in preparation for the inevitable fight they were no doubt going to get into upon landing.

Just then the ships PA crackled into life and the voice of their foul mouthed pilot was heard, -You two assholes ready?-

"As we'll ever be Cid." Tifa replied. The grinding of gears and machinery was then heard and the bay doors creaked open revealing the streets of Konoha below.

–Good luck you two, try not to get killed.- Cid told them, a traffic light like devise blinked into life going from red to yellow to green.

The boards slid down the track they were connected to, gaining momentum as they did, and out of the doors descending towards the streets below.

* * *

Down below the Kitsune and Sakura's fight with Jugo and Suigetsu had started up again.

The cherry blossom konouichi was using a combination of her chakra enhanced strength and Kitsunes wakizashi force the red head man back with a series of slashes from her weapon.

Sakura had just manage to duck under another of Jugo's slashes, his axe arm catching the hair on top of her head, and seizing her opportunity raised her weapon in an upwards stabbing motion catching Jugo in the throat, with a cry Sakura unleashed another chakra enhanced blow and brought her fist into the red heads gut sending him flying backwards and sending him crashing through a nearby building.

Panting heavily Sakura surveyed the damage her battle with Jugo had caused, _'That…that guy, his powers and strength was insane…and those markings, they were just like the ones Sasuke had. I just hope that's the last I've seen of him.'_ Her hopes however were quickly dashed. A huge burst of energy filled the air as well as debris from the ruined building followed by a fully transformed Jugo, the wakizashi still sticking out of his neck.

"Ah crap." Sakura cursed as she got back to her feet as Jugo lumbered towards her.

Jugo let out a snarl as he yanked the blade out of his throat and hurled it at Sakura who ducked out of the way, that however turned out to be not such a great idea as it gave Jugo the opportunity to charge at the pinkette and unleash a mighty kick to her midsection sending her flying several feet before crashing into the ground. As she tried to get up a jolts of pain ran throughout Sakura's whole body.

"Damnit…" Sakura cursed, "I am so not looking forward to tomorrow morning."

Just then hearing the sound of heavy breathing she looked up and saw Jugo was once again headed her way. "Ah crap, not this again." Sakura groaned she tried to get back up so she could avoid the psychotic red head however her body refused to listen to her commands, "Come one damnit, move…" It was to no avail however; no matter how hard she tried she could not get her body to move.

Then as if by an act of god something long and metal collided with Jugo's head causing him to stumble backwards, Sakura had barely any time to contemplate this however as her whole world became enveloped in red.

Once his head stopped spinning Jugo saw a red mist like substance floating through the air and up onto the roof where it transformed into a ragged looking red cloak that was wrapped around the body of a man with pale skin clad in a black body suit with long ebony hair flowing from his head.

Vincent glanced over at Sakura who was behind him, "Are you ok?" he asked.

"Uh…yeah, think so." Sakura replied.

"Good." Vincent said plainly, reaching into his holster he removed Cerberus and leaping from the rooftop fired several shot at Jugo.

* * *

Whilst this was going Tifa had also touched down and just as she was getting her bearings the sound of clashing metal caught her attention, looked about she saw a glimpse of spiky blond hair.

_'Cloud…'_ tightening her fists she dashed towards where the battle was taking place. The air was filled with the sound of striking metal as the Kumo swordsman's kitana repeatedly clashed with the Kubikiribōchō and Kitsune was becoming more and more frustrated, the oversized weapon gave his white haired opponent much greater attacking range and the man himself had given him very few openings or any opportunities to use his Futon based attacks.

Grave robber or not this guy was good, what he needed was for something that may distract this guy just long enough for Kitsune to find an opening.

"CLOUD!" Hearing a voice both Kitsune and Suigetsu looked over and saw a dark haired woman clad in a white shirt under a black zip-up vest with black shorts that fold at the waist a black glove on both hands, her whole body radiated with burned energy.

With a cry Tifa unleashed a series of blows on Suigetsu (Beat Rush), her left hand smashed through his chest whilst her right punched through his head causing it to burst like water balloon the body collapsing to the ground and burst into water.

Tifa stood there, staring at her fist wide eyed in shock, she knew she threw a pretty mean punch but this was ridiculous.

Still shocked she looked up at the other man who was standing in front of her, the one with the spiky blond hair, however to her disappointment discovered that although there was a passing resemblance he wasn't Cloud.

Kitsune grabbed Tifa's arm and pulled her towards him catching the dark haired woman by surprise, spinning around and ramming his sword into the newly formed Suigetsu.

"Ha, do honestly think sticking your sword through me is gonna do anything to me." Suigetsu scoffed, "Case you haven't figured it out, my body is made of water. Your sword ain't gonna do jack."

"FUUTON: SHIPPU BURE-DO! Hurricane Blade!" Kitsune said in a low tone as he channelled more wind chakra into his weapon creating a tornado like effect which ripped Suigetsu to shreds.

"Are you ok?" Kitsune asked.

"Y…yeah." Tifa replied still sounding disappointed, "Sorry, I'm looking for a friend of mine and I thought you were him."

"Let me guess spiky blond hair, wears black and carries a big sword." Kitsune said nonchalantly, "Yeah, he's around here somewhere."

"R…really?" Tifa said sounding relived. Just then a groan was heard and the pair saw Suigetsu reforming once again.

"This guy just won't stay down." Tifa commented.

"Yep." Kitsune replied the pair prepared to engage the white haired ninja.

* * *

Back at training ground 7 the fight between Cloud and Sasuke continued. Cloud breathed heavily as he stared at Sasuke, whilst he could tell that he wasn't as powerful as Itachi the Uchiha wasn't making things easy for him.

Meanwhile Sasuke had seen just how Cloud had been able to keep up with his brother; there was no denying that this man was strong and combined with his weapon and the strange energy attacks he could use made him formidable.

However Sasuke's own pride refused to let himself be beaten by Cloud, he'd spent too long and worked too hard to allow someone else the of killing his brother, the jutsu, particularly his ultimate Raiton jutsu, the long hours spent training his body and jutu he'd acquired and perfecting and wouldn't not be all for nothing and despite his impaired left eye his Sharingan still allowed him to track Cloud's movements and counter his every attacks.

However fatigue was creeping up on the two, both had been travelling non-stop to reach the village and had been fighting since their arrival and was beginning to take its toll on the pair.

_'Can't let this drag on.'_ Cloud thought, _'I have to end this now….'_ Cloud's body began radiating a fiery blue aura which wound around the blade of his sword, with a swing of his weapon Cloud unleashed a swirling tornado like mass of energy at Sasuke who was sucked up into it (Finishing Touch).

Grimacing Sasuke made a hand sign before the swirling mass of energy consumed him, ripping him to shreds up. Taking a moment to catch his breath Cloud watched as the energy tornado did its thing before dying, however he quickly noticed something when it did: there was no blood or body bits amidst the debris.

Just then the sound of something breaking behind him caught the swordsman's attention, spinning round Cloud saw a pair of burning Sharingan as the Uchiha's sword pierced his lung, a wave of pain ran through the blond man's body as it did. His eyes wide Cloud stared into Sasuke's face, the Uchiha's features betraying no sign of any emotion.

"CHIDORI KOKEN! One Thousand Birds Sword!" Sasuke said in a monotone voice, the air was filled by the sound of chirping birds as electrical energy passed from the rouge Uchiha's hand and along the blade of the blade of his weapon, the air of chirping was only broken by the sound of Cloud's cries as the electrical current entered his body whilst all the while Sasuke merely watched on seemingly impassively.

After several minutes the flow of electrical energy ceased and slowly Sasuke withdrew his blade from Cloud's body, blood oozing from the wound as he did the blond swordsman falling to his knees before collapsing to the ground.

(AN Hey everybody, may I suggest either listenting to Promise Land whilst reading the rest of this scenet, or at least imagine it playing, I find that it kinda adds to the scene. That song gives me chills everytime I hear it.)

Sasuke looked on as his latest victim lay there unmoving. "Hmph…what a waste of time." Uchiha slipped his Kusanagi back into its sheath and turned to leave.

As he fell the surroundings around Cloud began to fade away and change, no longer was he on the field where he had battled both Orochimaru and Sasuke but it a field of flowers that stretched as far as the eye could see. _'Is…is this it? Is this how I die?'_ Were the blond man's thoughts as he lay there.

_"Cloud…"_ the sound of his name filled the blond hero's ears, _"Cloud…"_

"Whaa…" Just then a groaning noise caught Sasuke's attention and looking round saw Cloud stirring and trying to push himself up onto his elbows, "What?" Sasuke exclaimed, _'I poured enough Raiton chakra into my jutsu to fell a rhinoceros, there's no way he should have survived.'_

Shakily Cloud pushed himself up onto his elbows, blood seeping from his mouth and from his wound. Looking up he saw a pair of figures in the distance, slowly their hazy figures became clear to him revealing them to be a man with wild black hair clad in a black outfit and a woman with long brown hair clad in a pink dress with a red jacket thrown over the top. Clouds eyes widened at the sight of the pair, _'Aerith…Zack…'_

He tried to drag himself over towards the pair but his body refused to budge, all he could do was reach out towards the pair his hand shaking and his vision all the while growing dimmer, "Please, don't…don't go. Don't leave…me…"

Sasuke watched Cloud with some confusion, why was the calling out to him when he was the one who stuck a blade through his chest.

Cloud continued to reach out to his two friends in an attempt to reach out to them until what remained of his strength finally faded away, his vision went completely dark and his hand fell to the ground. His remaining spark of life faded from his eyes and his whole body became still.

All the while Sasuke watched what had transpired confused him however it didn't matter now. Returning his weapon to its sheath the former Konoha ninja silently left the field.

* * *

Elswhere the fights between Cloud Tifa Vincent Sakura Suigetsu and Jugo were still raging. 'This is getting us nowhere…' Tifa inwardly growled as she watched Kitsune's sword slice through Suigetsu's arm only for a new appendage to form almost instantly.

_'Damnit, cos of his ability to turn his body into liquid anything we do is useless. If we could find a way to keep him solid...'_ It was then something clicked in Tifa's brain, _'Wait, that's it.'_

"Hey, blond guy," she called out getting Kitsune's attention, "You might want to get out of the way."

Taking a piece of broken glass scratched her arm just enough to allow some blood to seep through before collecting it and smearing it on a Materia orb she had attached to a special bracelet on her wrist. Tifa formed a Ram Seal and her body gave off a green glow and orb or red yellow and white with symbols on them appeared before being absorbed by her body.

"Spirit of the north wind…Shiva." Four orbs of swirling light descended from the sky appeared and froze the piece of ground they touched upon landing and from it erupted a large pillar of ice, inside was a woman with light blue skin and long blue hair clad in a rather skimpy outfit. The woman's eyes opened and the ice around her shattered.

Seeing this Kitsune quickly used Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to get out of the way quickly.

"Shiva, Diamond Dust…" Tifa ordered. Shiva brought her pointer and index fingers to her lips and in a manner similar to blowing a kiss an icy wind kicked up causing ice to form around Suigetsu. Icy energy began then swirling around Shiva which she collected in her hand creating a large sphere of energy

"Hey, what's going on?" the white haired ninja demanded, he'd never get an answer however. The energy orb struck him, his body instantly freezing into a large crystal of ice. Shiva snapped her fingers and the crystal shattered leaving Suigetsu's frozen body parts behind.

Tifa rushed over to where Suigetsu's frozen head was and picked it up off the ground and stared at it for a few seconds before crushing it before it shattered into pieces.

Back with Sakura and Vincent things were looking pretty dire for the pair. Vincent loaded several bullets at Jugo; however the orange haired man was in such a rage that he didn't seem to notice the projectiles.

_'Damnit, what's it going to take to put this guy down…'_ Vincent inwardly cursed as he fired off a few more shots, he then jumped backwards as Jugo aimed one his massive fists at the gunman leaping onto the roof of a nearby building.

Jugo was about to go after Vincent but before he could Sakura charged at him delivering a devastating blow to Jugo's head knocking the man back which was swiftly followed up by another, the rosette hammering blow after blow on the flame haired man.

_'These better work, I don't like using them if I don't have to.'_ Reaching into his a pouch on his belt Vincent took out three cartages that he loaded into his gun.

Whilst this was going on Jugo had managed to latch onto one of Sakura's fists and began slamming her into different things be it a wall of a building or the ground, seeing this Vincent took aim and squeezed his weapons trigger a small bang filled the air as well as the smell of gun powder and grease as the bullets were forced from the chamber.

Jugo had just thrown Sakura into a nearby wall, the impact of which was strong enough to send the pink haired konouchi smashing through it; standing over her he raised his fist preparing to deliver the blow that would end her life.

Before he could however a jolt of pain ran down Jugo's arm causing him to cry out, it was then that Sakura's vision also returned to normal and was met by the might of Jugo cradling the bloody stump where his hand had once been howling in pain. Just then another shot rang out and a hole appeared in Jugo's shoulder, with a snarl Jugo looked round and saw Vincent the three barrels of his weapon smoking. Jugo roared and charged at him.

"Seem's you don't like the taste of Materia." Vincent said plainly before firing off a few more shots at the monstrous man blowing more holes into Jugo's body, despite this however it seem to do little to halt the flame haired man's approach as he continued to stumble forward.

Morphing his remaining hand into an axe Jugo took a clumsy swing at Vincent who was forced leap up and over the man's head to avoid it. _'Damnit, this guy is as hard to put down as Azul was.'_ Vicent inwardly cursed as he landed beside Sakura who was healing herself, "You OK?" he asked.

"I've been better." Sakura replied, "Damnit, what the hell is this guy?"

"Dunno, looks we're gonna have to resort to more drastic measures." Vincent replied, he then bit into his lip till he drew blood which he then wiped off and smeared onto a Matria orb that was embedded in his gauntlet, "You might want to stay back."

Sakura watched as her dark haired companion formed a ram seal, orbs of red yellow and white with symbols on them appeared before being absorbed by his body which was giving off an ominous green energy.

"Rise from the inferno…Ifrit." The ground cracked open and the sky seemed to burn as a brown skinned demonic looking creature with long horns and claws, its head framed with a mane of red hair with was also covered its crotch wrists and the back of its calf's and a gold band on each of its wrists arose up and let out a terror inspiring roar, its flames igniting everything that surrounded it.

"Ifrit, Hell Fire…" Vincent ordered. Letting out another roar Ifrit as a firey orb formed into both of its clawed hands bringing them together to create an even larger one which it tossed at Jugo engulfing him it flames, a third large orb manifested itself, this one inside the beast's mouth which it launched at its target.

Not finished yet Ifrit reached into the ground and tore a large piece from it and raised it over its monstrous head, and threw it at the burning mass that was now Jugo.

Beneath his demonic looking form was what remained of Jugo's human sanity, he knew that from both the infernal flames and the large piece of rock that was inches from him that he would not survive.

However he did not fear his inevitable death in fact he welcomed it, after a life filled with destruction and death he was finally going to find some form of peace. Maybe if enough of his humanity remained he might have thanked the dark haired gunman.

The large boulder came crashing down upon Jugo, a sickening crunch filling the air, letting out one last roar Ifrit returned to the earth taking its flames with it.

* * *

Outside the village walls the other members of Team Kitsune were having a hell of a time dealing with the Iwa Kusaga forces, it seemed never ending.

_'Damnit,'_ Samui inwardly cursed as she ducked out of the way of a Kenjutsu attack from one of the Kusaga nin's, _'It's like for everyone we cut down two more take their place.'_ She then unleashed a mighty punch to the man's head which was followed up by a vicious kick to his mid-section which knocked him to the ground.

Meanwhile Kauri and Omoi had their own hands full, despite their skill with the sword as well as their double teaming skills it was pretty clear that they wouldn't be able the hold out much longer.

"Argh, is there no end to these guys?" Kauri growled as she cut down another Iwa ninja.

"Oh man, would you shut up." Omoi groaned as he took out another opponent, however he was silently agreeing with his teammate.

Travelling almost non-stop at an accelerated pace to reach Konoha with very little time in between to rest eat or do anything else was being to take its toll on the Kumo trio.

Then just when it seemed like things would not get any worse, "Wait if those three are here, then just when it seemed things couldn't get worse the Tsuchikage and Kusaga captain appeared on the battlefield accompanied by a several of their soldiers.

"Ah shit." Kauri cursed.

"Are these them?" the purple faced Kage demanded upon seeing the three of them, "These are the three ninja who gave an entire army couldn't deal with?"

"Well this is just perfect." Omoi said in a mirthless tone.

"I thought I told you to be quiet." Kauri told her teammate.

"Hey we're about to go up against a Kage and will most likely die, I'll do or say whatever I want." Omoi shot back.

"Would you please die quietly then." Kauri

"ENOUGH TALKING, KILL THEM!" the Tsuchikage roared.

Before anyone could do anything however hundreds of small needle like projectiles rained down upon the gathered forces which dissolved when they hit the ground.

"What the hell is this?" the Tsuchikage roared.

The Kusaga captain knelt down and inspected where one of the projectiles hit and was shocked at what he discovered. "Sand, there made of sand."

The three Kumo ninja was just as surprised as their opponents, before any of them could do or say anything a ninja clad in black wielding a large fan appeared before the trio, taking a hold of the fan the ninja unfurled it and unleashed a powerful burst of wind at the combined Iwa and Kusaga forces.

"You three are lucky to have survived this long," the ninja commented, and turing to look at the three then ninja was revealed to be a woman with dirty blond hair tired into four pigtails, her Hitai-ate baring the symbol of Suna, "However your also in a heap of trouble for being here."

"A Suna ninja." Samui said in a cool tone.

"Not just Suna." Temari told them.

Another burst of wind kicked up and the area was filled with ninja, some baring Suna's symbol whilst others bore Kumo's. Standing before Samui Omoi and Kauri was Garra decked out in his Kage's battle gear whilst a person wearing a hood stood at his side.

"There you three are, you've certainly caused quite a stir." The hooded figure said, taking hold of the hood she pulled it back to reveal herself to be Aoi.

"Raikage-sama." Kauri exclaimed before she and her teammates bowed respectfully.

"You three are certainly more skilled then given credit for for being able to take on such a large enemy force by yourselves." Aoi told them, "Don't worry, I'll think of someway to punish you later, right now we have this matter to deal with."

She and Garra turned to face the Iwa/Kusaga forces, the red faced Tsuchikage looking as if he could explode any moment.

"You, you dare show your face here." He snapped, his eyes falling upon the Raikage, "Despite the history between our two villages and then refuse to aid us in taking down our mutual enemy, instead you have the gall to turn your back on use and side with Konoha."

"You misunderstand Tsuchikage-sama." Aoi replied in calm tone, "Kumo sides with no one, however despite my belief to stay out of this conflict events have conspired that we cannot ignore it."

"TRAITOR." The Tsuchikage roared.

"I see, I pity you Tsuchikage-sama." Aoi said in a sad tone, "it seems that you are trapped in the cycle of hatred that I hope to liberate my village from."

"Save your breath Raikage." Garra told her, "Nothing you say is going to change his mind."

"Ha, you two actually think you can match me?" the Tsuchikage scoffed, "Fine then, by crushing you I'll gain dominion in Kaze no Kuni and Kaminari no Kuni." He then commanded his army to attack whilst he rushed to engage Garra and Aoi personally.

* * *

**'_Heh, even now he couldn't do it…'_** were the great beasts thoughts as he watched the field of flowers slowly die as the seemingly began to grow dark.

**"You runt…you really are weak."** Kyuubi scoffed as his surroundings grew dimmer, **"You'd better thank me for this later…me and the Yodaime Hokage who saw fit to seal me into someone like you…"**

Orangey/red energy seeped out of the monsters cage and over the dying land.

* * *

AN Hi everybody. This chapter and the last chapter was originally written as chapter 11, I'm sure pretty its obvious to tell, however when I was finished the whole thing was 11,180 words long. I didn't know if anyone could read something that long all in one go so I split it into two shorter ones instead.

Ah well, you all get 2 chapters for the price of one.

Anywho the shinobi is still going one and Sasuke's recovered from having Itachi's eyes implanted so I imagine we'll get to see what brand new deus ex machina powers he's developed at some point.

Ok I'm done, hope this double upload makes up for the long ass wait and please continue to leave comments.

Later y'all.

PS Jole, if your out there please contact me

PPS Oh by the way check out a fic called Wrath of Fire, its pretty good.


	18. Chapter 13

AN  
"Blah"- Normal Speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts

* * *

_Naruto/Final Fantasy VII_  
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 13

Invasion Arc part 5

Throughout the village of Konoha the sounds of battle rang out, on almost every street corner shinobi clashed with one another. The sight at the west gate was one of near total carnage, with all the chaos going on Choji found himself in charge of a small group of soldiers that had become cut off from the main group and whom were close to being overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies.

With a cry he used his families Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Multi-Size Technique) to enlarge his arms and fits as one of the large hulking Oto ninja's came stomping into view, with his enlarged appendages he unleashed a powerful blow at the opponent causing it to stagger backwards. Not giving it even the slightest chance to recover Choji unleashed blow after blow forcing it backwards into the village wall and kept pounding away. However this proved to be costly, he was so engrossed in this one opponent that he failed to notice three of the more swift Oto ninja coming towards him. The trio withdrew small knives and plunged them into Choji creating shallow cuts in his portly body, whilst not life threatening it was enough to halt Choji's assault.

The hulked out Oto ninja grabbed ahold of Choji's arm and with a mighty heave managed to reverse their positions sending the Akimichi into the wall where it proceeded to pound away at him. The three swift ninja took a moment to admire their handiwork, before they could move on three black tigers appeared out of nowhere and pounced upon the three resulting in a rather gory death. At the same moment a large black python appeared and wrapped itself around the bulky Oto ninja halting its attack on Choji, seeing this Choji let out a roar as he lunged forward and headed his opponent in the chest knocking him backwards. Taking a moment to catch his breath Choji looked about and caught sight of Sai who had just created some more ink beasts and sent them to attack the enemy.

"Thanks for the assistance." Choji said to his pale skinned comrade.

"No problem." Sai replied, as he said this he drew several ink shuriken and launched them. That done the former ROOT ninja rushed over to the Akimichi's side. "I suppose asking for a progress report is somewhat redundant at this point." Sai said as he helped Choji up.

"A little." Choji replied, "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were stationed at the Academy along with Sakura."

"I came here to escort a small team of medics whilst she did the same at the main gate." Sai told him, "Seemed suspicious to me, probably just an excuse to be part of the battle but I still had my orders and we all know what the hag can get like when she's annoyed."

"True, so where are they now?" Choji asked.

"Once we arrive I had them gather as many of our wounded as possible and created some ink birds to transport them straight back to the medical base, they should be finished by now." Sai said plainly, "You should probably head there as well."

"No way, with Yamato-sama and the others gone it's my job to hold the line here at all costs." Choji said firmly.

* * *

Elsewhere Hinata, her Byakugan blazing, ducked under the blow of one of the berserker nin before delivering a vicious strike to the man's legs cutting his chakra flow which was followed up by a leg sweep bringing her opponent to the ground. Barely getting time to catch her breath she was instantly set upon by another of the Oto forces, this one coming at her with a kunai in each hand. Without missing a beat she used her arm to block a masked man's own as he tried to slash at her, with that she launched an open palm at his chest striking him where his heart was causing him to fall down dead.

_'I'm not sure I can go on much longer, it seems like for every enemy I take down two more take his place.'_ Hinata panted the feeling of exhaustion setting in, _'My chakra is almost depleted and keeping my Byakugan active is burning up what little I have left. But I can't give up; I have to keep fighting for Kiba-kun…for Neji-nee-san…for Naruto-kun.'_

She had barely caught her breath when another Oto ninja rushed at her, one of the small faster ones this time, readying herself Hinata took up her Juken stance and prepared to deal with him. It was however when her Byukugan died, the Oto ninja dodged her strike and drove his foot into her knee forcing her to lose her balance and stumble to the ground.

Before he could finish her off however a flash of red lunged at the ninja and forced him to the ground. Surprised Hinata looked up and to her amazement saw a large red cat like creature mauling her would be executioner. Once it prey was dealt with the creature looked over at her.

"Are you alright my dear?" It asked her.

"Err…hai." Hinata replied, "Uh, a...arigato."

"No need to thank me." The creature replied. "Can you stand?"

"Yes…I think so." Hinata said, "Not to sound ungrateful or anything but who are you?"

"My name is Nanaki, although my friends call me Red XIII." The fire lion told her.

"Arigato Nanaki-san." Hinata said as she got back to her feet, reaching into the pouch of her Chunin vest the Hyuuga heiress took out two soldier pills which she popped into her mouth, instantly she could feel them taking effect restoring some of her chakra.

* * *

Elsewhere Ino had her own hands full, gracefully she side stepped out of the way of one of the swift Oto nin's blades before using her Chakra no Mesu (Chakra Scalpel) to sever the man's wind pipe leaving his to choke to death, barely acknowledging her fallen enemy the young Yamanaka was quickly on the move, reaching into her weapons pouch she pulled out several shuriken which were instantly thrown, many of which finding themselves buried in the head of a couple of the enemy ninja.

It had been several hours since her group had been forced to fall back after the initial wave of Oto soldiers had forced them to do, in that time she'd also lost sight of Choji and was desperate to find any trace of her teammate. _'Choji…you fat idiot, you better not have died on me.'_ She inwardly growled as she buried her foot in another enemy's groin that was quickly followed up by ramming a kunai into the back of his neck.

Before her latest victim could even hit the ground Ino was forced to defend herself again as an Oto berserker ninja as well as several normal nins came at her. Letting out a small growl she charged towards the berserker ninja and dropped to the ground and slid between its legs, the instant she was clear Ino flipped up onto the opponents back applying chakra to her hands and feet to stay attached at the large ninja tried bucking her off. "SHINRANSHIN NO JUTSU! Mind Body Disturbance Technique!"

Sending chakra into its nervous system, Ino took control of the berserker ninja's body and used it to attack the other opponents in her way. "Ok you big ugly freak, mush." Ino ordered compelling the large hulking ninja forward, swatting aside the enemy like bugs that was until she ran into another pair of berserker nin came into view. One of the titans slapped its large hand across the Ino was riding causing it to reel backwards and knocking the Yanamaka clan member off her steed spending her sprawling to the ground.

Grunting Ino rolled onto her side and brushed her hair out of her eyes, as she did she saw the three berserker ninjas stomping towards her, the one she'd been riding having snapped out of her influence, "Ah crap." Before Ino had time to react a large shuriken appeared out of seemingly nowhere and buried itself in the neck of one of the berserker ninja causing it to stagger backwards slightly and catching the other two by surprise.

"Hey, you alright down there?

Hearing a voice Ino looked about and saw perched on top the ruins of a nearby wall a young woman, who's she guessed was somewhere in her 20's, clad in a navy blue tank-top with a flower patterned shirt underneath and a pair of khaki shorts, a black and white bandanna adorning her forehead. "Thanks for the assist, but who are you?" Ino asked.

"Me, I'm 'The Single White Rose of Wutai', 'The Great Ninja Yuffie'." Yuffie said with all her usual tact and humility (aka none).

'_Oh God, she's like a combination of Naruto and Lee.'_ Ino groaned. Yuffie leapt off of her place on the wall and onto the berserker, pulling her weapon free before leaping backwards.

"Sit back and watch as a real ninja in action." The dark haired kunoichi said in a cocky tone. Her body gave off an orange-ish red glow, Yuffie drove the point of her shuriken into the ground causing it to shake, the ground beneath the three Oto ninja, began glowing before exploding in a release of green energy (Landscaper).

"Booyah." Yuffie cheered, looking over at Ino who had gotten back onto her feet and flashed her cocky grin, "How'd you like that?"

'_Who is she?'_ Ino wondered, just then several Oto swift ninja appeared behind Yuffie rushing towards her, "Hey, watch out."

"Huh…" Yuffie said in a confused tone, before she could react further a streak of red and blue rushed past her followed by the sound of death cries and something cutting flesh. Looking past Yuffie Ino saw a young girl with short auburn hair clad in a greyish blue jump suit with a sword in each hand, their blades glowing orange and connected to one another by a glowing cord.

"Tsk, your such a show off Shelke." Yuffie pouted.

"Your one to talk Yuffie." Shelke replied, driving the blade of one of her swords into an enemy that tried to sneak up on her.

"Before you begin trying to scratch each other's eyes out maybe you could answer a couple of things for me. Like just who are you people and what are you doing here?" Ino said firmly before Yuffie could retort.

"I am Shelke Rui, this is Yuffie Kisaragi, and we came here looking for a comrade of ours." Shelke told her, "This location was listed as his last known destination."

"Yeah, we're looking for that bond knucklehead Cloud." Yuffie added.

"Cloud, Cloud is here?" Ino exclaimed.

"You've met him?" Shelke question the blond kunoichi.

"He was here, but he left over a month ago." Ino replied as she used her Chakra no Mesu to cut down another Oto ninja.

"Ah phooey, now we gotta look for some other leads." Yuffie pouted.

* * *

Elsewhere near the front gates Neji and Lee had their own hands full with the Kusaga and Iwa invaders. The pair stood back to back, the two stood back to back using their respective Taijutsu styles to fend off the seemingly endless waves of opponents. Despite this however the pair knew things were pretty grim, no matter how skilled as they were they couldn't hold off battalions of enemy troops by themselves.

"Neji, my eternal rival, this is most unyouthful." Lee commented as he used a Gouken strike to fell yet another Iwa ninja, "I have lost count of the number of enemies I have felled and our usual game to see who can defeat the most is no longer fun."

"First of all Lee I was never participating in your childish game, second what was your first clue." Neji retorted as he unleashed a Juuken strike that felled three Kusaga ninja who came at him.

The pair was given no time to savor these victories as more opponents were soon upon them. A scowl formed on Neji's face.

'_Damn, I didn't want to have to use this so soon. But now it seems like I have no other choice.' _"Lee, get behind me." The longhaired Hyuuga ordered.

"Huh?" Lee exclaimed.

"Just do it, I don't want to have to explain to the Hokage how you were killed by friendly fire." Neji barked at him, as he did his hands began crackling with electrical energy.

However it seems Neji would be spared from having to use his new technique, before the enemy could reach the pair a large fireball appeared out of nowhere and hit the ground creating a burst of energy strong enough to knock the oncoming Kusaga and Iwa ninja back. Surprised Neji and Lee looked over at the attacks origin point and found Barret standing on the roof of a nearby building, the barrel of his arm cannon smoking, with Cid at his side, his spear at the ready.

"Who are you, identify yourselves." Neji demanded.

"Shit would ya look at this lil punk Barret." Cid scoffed.

"Shit, you see some boys who look they could use some help and all they can do is piss and moan." Barret added before unleashing a hail storm of bullets at the enemy.

Following this up Cid's body began glowing with reddish/orange energy, he then jumped off of the roof and descended towards the ground impaling another Kusaga ninja on him spear (Boost Jump).

Before he could stand up a large gust of wind kicked up knocking just about everyone and everything in the vicinity to the ground. Braving a look and found Temari standing there, her fan unfurled unleashing another powerful wind based attack, this one slicing through several enemy nins. Around her Suna ninja engaged the enemy alongside the Konoha forces and, to their surprise, Kumo ninja.

"Temari-san…" Lee said in surprise.

"So you finally showed up, you took our time getting here." Neji said firmly, "Care to tell me why Kumo is here and why they're fighting with us?

They're our allies as far as I am aware." Temari replied, "First off you should be glad that we made it at all. Second I have no idea what brings Kumo to your aid but right now the Raikage and my brother are currently dealing with the Tsuchikage."

"A battle between Kage's, what a most youthful sight that would be." Lee said in childlike awe.

"Hey ain't you forgettin something?" Barret said as he and Cid made their way towards the group of ninja, the dark skinned man letting off another volley of gunfire from his arm cannon.

"Well ain't you a sight for sore eyes." Cid commented, "I must say miss you are one fine lookin piece of ass, if I weren't a married man…"

The elder blond was suddenly cut off when Temari pointed her fan at his throat. "If I were you I wouldn't finish that sentence." She told him in a firm tone, "Who are you two anyway?"

"Names Barret Wallace, that's Cid Highwind." Barret told her, "We're here lookin for our buddy Cloud."

"Cloud, you his allies?" Temari asked.

"Tsk, is that how he's referrin to us now." Cid cursed, "Shit, what a prick."

"Yeah, well I heard from this Kumo ninja called Samui that he's in this village somewhere." Temari told them.

"So he is here, Tifa will be relived." Barret said.

"Maybe, but we should probably get to him before she does. It ain't gonna be pretty if she does." Cid replied.

* * *

In the deserted streets of the Uchiha district Kakashi stared over at Obito whom stared back at him before charging at one another. Obito threw a punch at his former teammate which Kakashi easily ducked under, the grey haired Kage followed this up by aiming a sweeping kick at Obito's legs which he avoided by leaping into the air and landing on a nearby wall.

"Whoa, this place looks pretty crappy." Obito said plainly, "This whole place feels like a ghost town, and that saying something coming from a dead guy."

A shudder ran through out Kakashi's body at these words, even to this day the truth of that night was one that shocked and appalled him. The night before he was sworn in as Hokage he'd been going through some old accounts in the Hokages private library when he came upon what looked like a small diary hidden away inside a large tome, inside he discovered an account from Hiruzen Sarutobi regarding certain aspects of his reign as Hokage including Orochimaru's development and the Uchiha massacre. He'd wasted little time confronting Tsunade about this only to discover she had no knowledge of what he was talking about, the pair had scoured the records to find more information however none could be found, if there had been it was most likely destroyed to leave no trace of Sarutobi and the councils involvement

"This place isn't used much nowadays, not after what happened. I'm afraid the Uchiha clan is no more Obito." Kakashi said in a grim tone.

"What are you talking about, what happened?" Obito asked.

And so Kakashi told Obito everything that happened the night of the Uchiha massacre. How his uncle Fugaku was plotting to lead the clan to rebel against the village, an act that would have ignited the village into civil war if it had gone ahead. How word of their insurrection reached the council and Hiruzen who ordered his nephew, Itachi, to put an end to it. In a single night Itachi slaughtered every member of the Uchiha clan leaving only his brother Sasuke alive before fleeing village and was branded a traitor and a criminal.

All this time Obito listened to Kakashi's tale a look of disbelief on his face. "Tell me Kakashi; are there any Uchiha still loyal to the village?" Obito asked once his former teammate was finished.

"None." Kakashi replied, "Itachi is an S class criminal wanted in every nation and Sasuke has also abandoned the village, as of right now I am Konoha's only Sharingan user."

"I see." Obito said, the pair then resumed fighting one another despite themselves. As they did Obito couldn't help but notice that something was off about Kakashi, like something was bothering him to the point where he wasn't giving this fight his whole.

"Ok Hatake something's bugging you, so spill." The deceased Uchiha said, "The Kakashi I knew wouldn't have this much difficulty dealing with an opponent, especially not with that Sharingan of mine working in you favor."

A prang of guilt resonated throughout Kakashi's being.

"Hey Kakashi let me give you some advice." Obito said firmly, "Whatever it is I suggest you get over it. I'm sure whatever it is there was nothing you could have done about it and did everything in your power to make it right."

"How can you say that?" Kakashi retorted, "You're dead Obito, every day I look in the mirror and am reminded of what happened on Kaninabi Bridge. I should have done more, if I hadn't been so obsessed with the rules Rin might not have been captured and you wouldn't have gotten trapped under that rock. I should have…"

"And then I would never have awakened my Sharingan and that Iwa nin would have killed us." Obito told him, "Kakashi…don't beat yourself up. What happened wasn't your fault. I was the one who said we should go after Rin, I disobeyed the rules and I dragged you along with me. I don't regret what happed Kakashi not going after Rin and not giving you my eye, you're my friend Kakashi, my teammate my brother." Just then the deceased Uchiha let out a chuckle, "I mean look at you, you were one of the best ninja to come out of our graduating class and now your Hokage, the heart and soul of the whole village."

Kakashi stood there, staring at his former teammate "Obito…" before anything else could be said Jiraiya and Tsunade appeared at Kakashi's side and Rin and Hiruzen Sarutobi at Obito's.

"And just like that the gangs back together again." Obito said, "So how did your little one on ones go?"

"Given the circumstances I must say quite well. Jiraiya I'm impressed, you've gotten so much stronger since I last saw you." Hiruzen complimented his former student.

"Arigato sensei." Jiraiya replied, "However I have to say that despite your age you're still a strong opponent, it's clear why you were known to many as the Shinobi no Kami. It took everything I had to keep up with you."

"It's merely a title, I take no pride nor pleasure from having it. I'm sure in time another will arise to claim it." Hiruzen said plainly, "And you shouldn't sell yourself short Jiraiya"

"It's been a great honor getting to face off against you Tsunade-sama, you are every bit as strong as you were rumored to be." Rin said.

"Thank you Rin." Tsunade replied, "However there is something that I am curious about. I was leafing through your file one day and saw that you were training to be a part of the medical core but then for no real reason you quit, why is that?"

An uncomfortable look formed on Rin's face whilst a pang of regret resonated through Kakashi's soul. "I…I couldn't do anything, I could only stand there whilst Kakashi-kun and Obito..." Rin managed to croak out, "I learned medical jutsu so I wouldn't be burden to my teammates but after what happened at Kaninabi Bridge I swore never to use it again. I wanted to use it to save lives and instead I used it to cut out Obito's Sharingan whilst he was still alive, what good was it if all I ever used it for was to inflict pain."

"Rin…" Obito said in a hurt tone.

"Suck it up Rin, quit feeling sorry for yourself." Tsunade said in, "I'm sorry, what I am saying may seem heartless but the first thing you learn as a medic and must accept is that you can't save everybody." Closing her eyes memories of her brother Nawaki and lover Dan filled Tsunade's mind, a silent tear roll down her cheek at the thought of their violent ends. "Even I must accept that no matter how good a medic I become I am not a god, if it were within my power to save everyone I would do so but I can't." Tsuande said in an even tone, "In the end all we can do is try and make sure the number of lives saved outweighs the numbers the lives lost."

"Tsunade-sama…" Rin said, tears still pouring from her eyes.

"I hate to break up this touching moment, however there is a problem." Hiruzen spoke up, "My renegade student's Edo Tensi makes us immortal, and we'll recover no matter what you do to us whilst you will simply continue to expend chakra."

"There is a way." Kakashi said, closing his eyes for a few seconds revealing his Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Wait is that?" Obito said in a tone of shock.

"Mangekyō Sharingan." Jiraiya said, "How long have you had that little trick up your sleeve?"

"Now's not the time Jiriaya." Kakashi said, "However you and Tsuande may want to step back, the technique I'm about to use is incredibly powerful and will most likely burn through my remaining chakra." Tsuande and Jiraiya both glanced at one another, both curious as to what Kakashi about to do before leaping up on to the roof of a nearby building. From his perspective Kakashi's world became engulfed in red and black, the air around the three undead Konoha ninja began to ripple and shimmer like disturbed water.

"What is this?" Obito wondered aloud.

"I believe Kakashi's technique is some kind of space/time ability." Hiruzen informed him, "He cannot defeat us so instead he's going to transport us far away from here so we'll no longer be a threat."

"Very good Sarutobi-sama, however your only partially right." Kakashi said, "My Mangekyō ability, Kamui, creates a warp in the fabric of space/time creating a miniature black hole. It won't just transport you away, it sucks its victims into another dimension, although which one I really couldn't tell you." From their position both Jiraiya and Tsunade were stunned.

"What a dreadful technique." Tsuande commented, "Transporting an opponent out of our sight with no way of knowing where they'll end up."

Jiraiya said nothing, he merely stayed silent as he continued to watch as events transpired. However although he never voiced it, he shared his buxom companions feelings. Back on the ground the distortion around Hiruzen Rin and Obito continued to the point that their bodies gave the impression of blurring and contorting.

"Kakashiiiiiii!" Obito cried out as he and the others were swallowed up by the distortion.

'_Obito…Rin…goodbye…'_ Were Kakashi's thoughts as his former teammates and predecessor were warped away and vanished. It was then Kakashi felt his legs give out from under him, his strength Ebbing away from him, and would have fallen to the ground if he hadn't been caught by Jiraiya with Tsunade at his side. "I'm sorry you had to see that." Kakashi managed to say whilst breathing heavily.

"We'll talk about it later." Jiraiya replied as Tsuande began examining the silver haired ninja,

"What do you want us to do now?"

"Using Kamui puts a large strain on my body, so I'm going to be out of commission for a while." Kakashi told him, "Tsuande, I'm putting you in charge, I'm of no use to anyone like this."

"Right." Tsuande replied, she then shifted her gaze to her former teammate, "Jiraiya, I'm going to take Kakashi to the medical station, I get the feeling they're going to need my assistance there soon enough anyway. In the meantime you get back out there, someone has to see this through."

"Bossy as ever." Jiraiya said to himself.

"You say something?" Tsunade said.

"Nothing." Jiraiya said before vanishing.

* * *

Outside the village walls was just as chaotic as it was inside, the Tsuchikage, despite being a man of his age, was putting up a strong fight against the two younger Kages forcing the pair to use their best moves and techniques to counter him.

'_I have to admit, he's good. I hadn't expected a man of his age to be this powerful.'_ Garra thought as he utilized his sand defenses to block a powerful blow from the elderly man, _'Old man or not, this man is still a Kage level ninja. I cannot allow myself to underestimate him even for a second.'_ "RENDAN: SUNA SHIGURE! Successive Shots: Sand Drizzle!" A of sand rose up from the ground, winding itself around Garra, and from it dozens of small sand bullets were fired at the Tsuchikage.

"DOTON: DORYUHEKIi! Earth-Style Wall!" The old kage's yelled as he flipped through seals and slammed his hands onto the ground, the ground shook as a wall of earth and dirt rose up intercepting Garra's jutsu. With a cry the old man the slammed his fist into the wall he'd created sending pieces of debris flying at the two ninja, in the blink of an eye Garra formed his Suna no Tate (Shield of Sand) around himself and Aoi to shield them from the flying debris. Once the bombardment ended and the shield dropped Aoi dashed forward and removing a pair of sebons from inside of her robes hurled them at the Tsuchikage who just stood there and allowed the weapons to strike him, to her shock and amazement the weapon bounced right off him.

"What you've just witnessed was my Tetsu Sukin (Iron Skin), by saturating my skin with a layer of chakra I can strengthen its resilience in turn becoming impervious to just about any sort of weapon and physical based attacks." He told them, his focus shifted over to Aoi, "From that I'm going to guess that sebons and the use of light weight weapons are your best area of expertise since you clearly are too much of a wee slip of a girl to be any use in an actual fight, knowing this I have robbed you of your only way to be of any use in this fight."

"I wouldn't start patting yourself on the back just yet." Aoi said in an even tone, "You haven't won yet."

"So your jutsu makes you impervious to most weapon and physical based moves." Garra said and his eyes narrowed, "Let's see just how resilient it is then. SAIKO ZETTA KOGEKI: SHUKAKU NO TSUME! Ultimately Hard Absolute Attack: Claw of Shukaku!" Several tendrils of sand and material, shaped like the arms and claws of his former tenant, rose up from the ground and lashed out at the Tsuchikage who retaliated with powerful blows to reduce the large sand arms back into sand and dirt.

However this gave Aoi the opening she needed to form a hand sign. "DOKUGIRI! Poison Mist!" Taking in a deep breath the young Kage released a cloud of dark purple smoke from her mouth. Noticing the Tsuchikage slammed his foot into the ground unleashing a shockwave that drove the poisonous cloud back towards Aoi and enveloped her.

"Ha, take that you snot nosed little brat." The Tsuchikage barked, "Choke to death on your own poison. Once I'm done breaking the back of Konoha I'm headed for Kumo where I shall personally wipe it off the map."

Garra glanced over at the cloud. The cloud dissipated revealing Aoi, on each shoulder sat a small purple-ish grey lizard. "Thank you for the assistance Ani. Mailia." The blue haired kage said.

"No problem boss." The two small amphibians replied.

"Salamanders?" The Tsuchikage growled, "I thought those little bastards were sided with Ame?"

"They were, however my Ji-san was able to acquire the summon contract sometime after Hanzo was killed." Aoi explained, "It took awhile and a lot of work however the Salamanders have now sided with Kumo. As such I am the first Kumo resident to have signed their contract." She then looked over at both small. "Boys, why don't we show him the fruits of our labor."

"You got it boss." The two small amphibians said, they then migrated off of her shoulders and down her arms making their way towards her hands, which they coiled themselves around. "KATON: NENSHOU HITOKAGE GENKOTSU! Burning Salamander Fist!" the pair cried out, their bodies suddenly burst into flames.

"Pah, so what." The Tsuchikage spat, "Those lizards change nothing." With a roar he charged at Aoi and threw a punch at her which she ducked under to avoid, seeing an opening she followed up with a punch of her own catching the elderly Kage in the gut. the old man let out a hiss of pain and Aoi's burning appendage made contact with his flesh.

"Oh ho, what do we have here? Despite your little Tetsu Sukin seems you don't like heat very much." Aoi said in a matter-o-fact tone.

"Shut you face." The Tsuchikage spat. Aoi then unleashed another barrage of punches at the old man striking him in the chest and gut. She then aimed another punch, this one aimed at the man's face when to her shock the old man caught her burning fist in his bare hand, closing his hand around hers squeals of pain was heard from the Salamander wrapped around Aoi's hand. Despite the searing pain from his hand the Tsuchikage tightened his grip on Aoi's fist, a smirk forming on his wrinkled face at the sight of the pained look on Aoi's.

Aoi went to land another punch on her opponent in hopes of getting him to at the very least loosen his grip enough to get away, however the old man used his remaining arm to block her strike, the blow packing enough force to knock the remaining salamander off of Aoi's hand the small creature as well as its counterpart on Aoi's trapped hand vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Grimacing Aoi grabbed ahold of the Tsuchikage's hand in a desperate attempt to try and pry lose the old man's grip, an act that only served to amuse the elder Kage further. "FUKUMI HARI! Hidden Needles!" Aoi spat a series of needles out of her mouth at the Tsuchikage's face however due to the old man's jutsu they merely bounced off like before.

"Poor little girl. When are you going to realize that you are nothing compared to me?" The Tsuchikage said in tone of sadistic pleasure, "Your nothing like your predecessor, he was feared and respected for his power. Compared to him you are just a mere child in grownups clothing playing ninja."

"Don't you dare mention my Ji-san." Aoi said defiantly.

"SUNA SHOUGEKIHA! Sand Shock Wave!" just then a shockwave shock the ground catching both Aoi and the Tsuchikage by surprise, enough to release the elder of the two grip on the other. Glancing over her shoulder and saw Garra, the Kazekage forming a one handed seal being surrounded by whirling sand. The air began to grow heavy, Aoi instinctively knowing that the red haired Kage was about to cast another jutsu, leapt out of the way just as Garra began casting him technique. "FUUTON: SUNA SHIPPU! Sand Hurricane!" A strong wind kicked up lifting up sand and debris from the ground and sround the Tsuchikage.

Wasting no time Aoi began flipping through seals. "KATON: HITOKAGE KOUEN! Salamander Flame!" A gust of flames was released from the blue haired young woman's mouth, combining with the wind transforming it into a whirling fiery mass, which consumed the elderly man. Feeling a sense of relief Aoi let out the breath that she must this moment realized she was holding. "Glad that's over." She told her fellow Kage.

Garra however said nothing, his gaze solely fixed upon the swirling/burning mass that was just beginning to die away.

"Sooo, I take it you're not big on the whole talking thing?" Aoi said to her red haired companion, trying to lighten the mood a little. This moment however was very short lived, the flaming mass of wind and sand finally died down completely revealing a scorched but very much still alive Tsuchikage. The man's hair and beard and moustache had been singed black where it had no doubt caught fire and his now burned and ragged robbed revealed a tone and muscular body not associated with someone of his age.

"Holy hell, he's as ripped as my Ji-san was!" Aoi exclaimed in shock.

"I'm…I'm gonna kill you." The elderly man snarled, "That's it, I've had enough of you young whelps. I've been going easy on the pair of you, but no more. As of right now kid gloves are off." Slamming both his hands into the ground the Tsuchikage. "DOTON: KYOUSEI DORYU SHOUGEKIHA! Great Earth Shock Wave!" the ground shook violently causing sections of Konoha's village wall and several buildings to collapse, both Garra and Aoi fought desperately to maintain their balance as everyone, regardless of their allegiance, else was thrown to the ground.

Seeing this the Tsuchikage lunged at the pair as the ground came to rest, driving his knee into Aoi's midsection sending her flying backwards. With that done he then turned his attention to Garra unleashing powerful blows, the red heads sand blocked each of the elder Kage's strikes however each of the man's attacks were coming in faster and stronger than the one before it, grimacing Garra stared intensely at the older Kage who was still coming at him looking for some kind of opening to allow him to strike back.

An idea forming, Garra allowed his guard to drop, the Tsuchikage's fist striking him in the chest. The second it made contact sand from Garra's Suna no Yoroi (Armor of Sand) wound itself around the old man's fist and down his arm, successfully trapping him.

"SUNA RAISHIN! Sand Lightning Needles!" Garra said in a low tone, more sand emerged from the gourd on his back that swirled around the pair before falling back to earth in the form of a spike, which surrounded the pair. No sooner had they formed when sparks of electricity were generated which struck the Tsuchikage shocking him causing him to cry out in pain.

Getting back to her feet Aoi shook her head in an effort to regain her bearings; Garra's jutsu had just come to an end as the world for her had stopped spinning. Reaching into her robes Aoi pulled out three more sebon which she hurled at the old man, this time the small metal items pierced the man's skin causing him to grunt in pain.

Taking out two more Aoi also revealed a small tag, with the kanji for stillness written on it, that she skewed on to the needles before hurling them at her target striking him in the base of his spine. His job done Garra used his sand to push the Tsuchikage away from him, sending him a considerable distance. Panting heavily the old man reached behind him and grabbed ahold of the sebon embedded in his back and letting out a grunt as he wrenched them out of his body before doing the same to the ones that pinned the tag to his flesh.

"What's this?" the old man growled as he brought the piece of paper into view, _'What…its blank…what kind of trickery is this?'_ "Damn you…" he growled at his two opponents.

"What's the matter old man, are we too much for you?" Aoi said in a smug tone, "Do you need a nap?"

"Insolent little brat." The elder Kage snarled as he got to his feet, "I have had enough of your smart mouth."

"Ohh, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to spank me?" Aoi said playfully as she gave him an a glance,pulling down her lower eyelid and sticking her tongue out in a childish manner.

"That's it…" the elder man roared, he then charged at Aoi and hurled punch after punch at her all of which Aoi was able to dodge and duck out of the way in a flawlessly manner. "Damnit, stay still." The Tsuchikage growled as Aoi dodged another of his punches.

"But if I did, you'd hit me. I wouldn't want that." Aoi replied.

'_Damnit, how she doing this.'_ The elderly Kage inwardly growled, _'She wasn't this quick before, was she toying with me or has she done something?'_

Just then Aoi let out a small chuckle.

"And what is it you find so amusing?" the elder Kage demanded.

"Oh, just enjoying that you finally seemed to be catching on." Aoi replied as she gracefully dodged another of her fellow Kage's attack.

"What have you done to me?" the Tsuchikage demanded.

"Well I've obviously poisoned you." Aoi said in a matter-o-fact tone, "All thanks to what was written on that tag I attached to you."

"What are you talking about, that tag had nothing on it." The Tsuchikage spat.

"When you got to it maybe. The words were written in a special ink was actually a type of poison I developed, designed to sink into the skin upon contact, Iron Skin or not." Aoi told him, "The poison itself is a mild paralytic, attacking the nerve endings that send signals to your brain to your limbs and slowing you down. Making it easier for me to avoid your big flashy attacks. My village usually uses it in larger doses to restrain people however inscribing it on things is also quite useful if a little slow."

"Damn you…" the Tsuchikage growled.

"SUNA KUGUTSU NO JUTSU! Sand Puppet!" Before the Tsuchikage could do anything else several sand tendrils appeared and wrapped themselves around his arms legs and chest. Using this technique Garra dragged the Tsuchikage away from Aoi, the elder Kage not making it easy and fought against him. The struggle the Kage put up however was to be short lived and soon enough Garra was able to wrestle the older Kage down onto his hands and knees.

"No this is impossible, how can this be happening. How could these brats over power me?" The Tsuchikage growled in exhaustion, he then glared up at the pair, "How…how have you done this to me?"

"Should we tell him?" Aoi asked Garra, the red head said nothing; he merely glanced over at her. "All my life I have been fascinated with poisons, I have studied it and the way it attacks the body. My contract with the Salamanders came with a very unexpected but none the less useful perk, making me immune to just about every kind of poison, knowing this I've experimented in different ways that I can use this to my advantage and created this, my ultimate technique, the one I used on you. It allows me to administer any kind of toxin to an opponent simply by touching them. As such every morning I ingest a dozen different poisons simply for the purpose of administering this jutsu." Aoi told him as the elderly man stared back at her in disbelief.

"That's insane, even if it were possible when did you even have the chance to infect me?" the elder Kage demanded, just then his eyes widened as he recalled capturing Aoi's hand and her pawing at it in an attempt to loosen his grip. "You…you weren't trying to get away. You wanted me to get ahold of you." He growled, "You needed to get in close to me long enough to administer you damn poison, and to do it in a way so I wouldn't suspect."

"Very good. The kind I administered you with is a slow acting one, it takes roughly fifteen minutes for the victim to acknowledge its presence and by then it's too late." Aoi informed him, "This one is designed to attack the victims chakra network, slowly eating away at it rendering them unable to perform even the simplest of jutsu, after that it goes after your bodies major organs shutting them down one by one, soon you will be unable to speak, move or even breath."

"D…damn you…" the Tsuchikage snarled painfully.

"I wound stop talking now you don't have much longer. But before you depart this world let me say that I bare you no ill will, it saddens me at having to meet under such circumstances " Aoi said, he then looked over at Garra, "I don't suppose you want to put him out of his misery?"

"SABAKU SOTAISO! Desert Layered Imperial Funeral" Using a large quantity of his sand as well as crushed material from the surrounding area, Garra covered the fallen Kage with several layers of the material before compressing it into a huge form which took the shape of a pyramid. The huge structure bound the defeated man and crushed him.

His task done Garra began heading towards the village gates, "Come on, there is still much to be done if Konoha is to be saved." Aoi nodded and together the two Kages made their way through the city gates.

* * *

Exiting the training field Sasuke slumped against the wall of a building that had miraculously had escaped the carnage up to now. Reaching into his shirt he took out another soldier pill that he popped into his mouth. As he did he took a moment to find out how his minions were doing, closing his eye he tried to pick familiar chakra signatures from the chaos that running rampant through the village. Karin was hold up somewhere near the main gate, doing as she was told and keeping out of the way, however he was unable to find Suigetsu and Jugo. Either the pair were suppressing their chakra, possibly using stealth tactics and ambushing hapless shinobi but given who the two of them were that was highly unlikely, or they were dead.

"Bravo Sasuke, bravo." Looking round the rogue Uchiha saw Orochimaru headed towards him. "I must say I am most impressed. Maybe I had you pegged all wrong, seems that maybe all those years under my tutelage weren't a complete waste of time and resources after all."

Sasuke said nothing; he merely glared at the pale skinned man. "Tell me, how did you survive?" Sasuke demanded, "I made sure I did a pretty through job of killing you, so how can you be here before me?"

"Oh that." Orochimaru said in a nonchalant tone, "Don't think less of yourself Sasuke, you had all but killed me when you decided to end our partnership. If it weren't for my technology that granted me my army then I wouldn't be standing before you."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke demanded.

"I am clone Sasuke, well a clone vessel anyway. After you absorbed most of my being and destroyed my body there was all but the tiniest remnant of my being left, barely clinging to life, and I would have surely perished if Kabuto had not found me." Orochimaru said, "I believe his original intention was implant me into himself however that turned out not to be a viable option, his body rejected me and almost killed him in the process. After that failed Kabuto used my DNA as well as DNA from a few of my more stronger subjects and grew a new body for me, one that could contain my essence."

"You…grew a body for yourself?" Sasuke said, doing his best to hide his surprise.

"Correct, with this method I am never short of a new host body." Orochimaru said plainly.

"Well good for you." Sasuke said mirthlessly, drawing his sword again the Uchiha pointed the weapon at his former master.

"What's this, you wish to go another round with me Sasuke?" Orochimaru said, in tone one of amusement.

"I'll be sure to finish you off properly this time." Sasuke said plainly. Before the two of them could get started the pair sensed a pair of chakra signatures and in an instant Kitsune stood before the pair along with a pale skinned man clad in a black body suit with a red cloak wrapped around him as well as a busty looking woman wearing a black leather miniskirt and top, strapped to Kitsune's back was the Kubikiribōchō confirming Suigetsu's death. "So, your alive after all." Sasuke said mirthlessly.

"What can I say Sasuke, I'm particularly hard to kill." Kitsune replied, he then drew his sword and pointed it at the rogue Uchiha, "Now, where were we?"

"Well, well, well. Who do we have here?" Orochimaru said slyly his gaze shifting over to Sakura, "Why Ms. Haruno, it's been a while since we last met."

"Not long enough snake face." Sakura commented pointing Kitsune's wakizashi at the snake Sannin who merely chuckled.

"And who are these two specimens?" Orochimaru asked looking at Vincent and Tifa.

"We're here looking for Cloud." Tifa said, "And I assume you're the guy responsible for all this?"

"Guilty as charged." Orochimaru replied, "And I must say I am quite honored to make your acquaintance my dear, I'm sure you possess many fine traits that would be suitable for my next body."

Just then a clicking sound was heard and Vincent was found pointing Cerberus at the pale skinned rouge nin. "I would appreciate if you didn't talk to my wife like that." He said gruffly, "In fact I'd prefer you didn't speak to her at all."

"Ah ha, so he does speak." Orochimaru said.

"If you don't mind I believe we are way beyond the point of talk." Kitsune said in a hard tone.

"Agreed, lets skips this and get down to fighting already." Sasuke added.

"It appears the art of good hearted banter has been lost forever, what a shame." Orochimaru sighed, "Very well then." The pale skinned nin snapped his fingers and in a flash a dozen of his ninja clones appeared, two berserker amongst their number and battle was once again joined.

Readying their respective weapons Kitsune, Vincent and Sasuke engaged the swifter of the group whilst Tifa ducked as one of the large berserker nins threw its large meaty fist at her whilst the other lunged at Sakura who instead stood her ground and grabbed ahold of her opponent's hand, the pair grappling with one another.

Kitsune charged at Sasuke however several of Orochimaru's troop got between the two rivals forcing them to divert their attention away from one another. All the while Orochimaru watched on in amusement as the three ninja and two Avalanche members engaged his troops, he always enjoyed observing these things preferring only to get his own hands dirty only when absolutely necessary.

Tightening her grip Tifa rushed towards her opponent and unleashed a barrage of punches (Beat Rush), she quickly followed this up with a sweeping kick, a trail of water forming in its wake (Water kick) before somersaulting into the air and delivering a vicious kick to the enemy (Somersault).

Summoning all her chakra enhanced strength Sakura dragged her opponent towards her before unleashing a vicious head-butt that caused the hulking ninja to cry out in pain. Wasting no time Sakura drew Kitsune's wakizashi and used the weapon to slash the opponent's throat.

Kitsune had just finished dispatching his share of Orochimaru's troop when a noise caught his attention, spinning round he was just in time to catch Sasuke's sword with his own. The two glared at one another for a few seconds, although to them it felt like an eternity, before separating only to lunge and unleash another flurry of blows at one another each one perfectly timed and countered by the other.

"FUUTON: SHIPPU BURE-DO! Hurricane Blade!" Kitsune cried unleashing a deadly swing of his weapon at the Uchiha.

"KATON: GORYUKANO JUTSU! Great Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled before releasing a large burst of flames from his mouth that took in the form of a dragon's head. The two attacks collided with one another creating an explosion of energy as well as kicking up a large cloud of dust into the air.

Shaking his head Kitsune was getting his bearings when the sound of chirping of birds assaulted his ears, before he could Sasuke emerged from the smoke electrical energy crackling in his hand. Scowling Kitsune raised his sword in preparation but as he went to strike back however he found it wouldn't move, looking over he saw a long pinkish tendril wrapped around it which led back to Orochimaru's mouth, the hebi sannin wearing a twisted look of pleasure on his pale face.

Grimacing Kitsune tried to pull himself free of Orochimaru's grip whilst at the same time Sasuke was getting closer. It was then a shot rang out followed by a cry of pain from Orochimaru who clamped his hand over his mouth, blood oozing out from between his fingers. Wasting no time Kitsune jumped into the air, taking the opportunity to slam his foot into Sasuke's face as he passed underneath him, and avoiding the Uchiha's attack, looking over he saw Vincent standing there the barrel of his weapon smoking from the shot he'd fired.

Grunting in frustration Sasuke cancelled his jutsu. It was then a cry ripped through the area that caught everyone's attention stopping them dead in their tracks, the atmosphere seemed to grow heavier.

'_This…this feeling. So much malice.'_ Kitsune thought, _'It feels like…'_

Before anyone could say or do anything a noise of something sailing through the air was heard and struck the earth catching everyone's attention, looking round the six fighters saw a familiar looking sword sticking out of the ground.

"Wait, isn't that Cloud's sword?" Tifa spoke up. Before anyone could say anything in response a crimson streak emerged from the woods surrounding the training ground and slammed into Sasuke sending him flying. Standing there was a human like figure crouched on all fours, his body covered in a layer of crimson chakra with what looked like two animal tail like appendages sticking out of the back. The fingers of black gloves that clad its hands had been torn revealing claw like nails. His face bore blood red eyes and on either side of his snarl of a mouth three bleeding line marks decorated each cheek.

"My god," Tifa gasped, "Cloud…"

* * *

Unbeknown to the combatants they were being observed. Nearby a large Venus fly trap like growth emerged from out of one of the trees which opened up to reveal a human like figure, the left side of its body being white and the right side black. "_Target _**located.**"

* * *

AN And with that this chapter is done, its finally f$%ing done.

Before anything else I want to go on record and say that this chapter was an absolute headache to get finished. This was originally meant to be up and posted earlier this month however between delays and technical difficulties it just kept getting pushed back, so to everyone who is annoyed as to why it took me so long to update trust me I feel the exact same way.

That being said I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that not a lot of you are going to be satisfied with this chapter, when I originally outlined this chapter it was going be quite different. This was meant to be the finally chapter in the invasion arc, the Kage fight as well as the confrontation between Kakashi and Obito was penciled in and we were also going to have Kitsune fight Kyuubi Cloud as well as something else which I will not spoil which would have brought this part of the story to an end.

However when I was going to start writing I realised that doing it that way would have left a lot of things unrevealed, like if I had just done that it would have implied that the other AVALANCHE members would have just stayed on the Shera whilst Tifa and Vincent were off kicking ass. Plus I'm sure a few of you were curious as to how the other members of the Konoha 10 were getting on and doing the chapter this way allowed for a few small scenes to look in on a few of them.

So yeah this chapter is pretty much about getting other stuff out of the way and next chapter will consist mostly of the final fight, which would probably make for a better chapter since I can focus primarily on it without distractions, as well as some of the fall out from the combined Oto/Iwa/Kusaga invasion.

Also for those of you who want more Cloud ,since I will admit there has been a notable lack of his presence, don't worry since next time there's gonna be a whole lot of him.

Anyway that's me done, sorry again that this took so long and please submit your reviews as I look forward to the feedback and thank you for your continued support for this endeavour.

Until next time, later y'all.


	19. Chapter 14

AN  
"Blah"- Normal Speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts

* * *

_Naruto/Final Fantasy VII_

Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 14

Invasion Arc part 6

It was then a cry ripped through the area that caught everyone's attention stopping them dead in their tracks, the atmosphere seemed to grow heavier.

'_This…this feeling. So much malice.'_ Kitsune thought, _'It feels like…'_

Before anyone could say or do anything a noise of something sailing through the air was heard and struck the earth catching everyone's attention, looking round the six fighters saw a familiar looking sword sticking out of the ground.

"Wait, isn't that Cloud's sword?" Tifa spoke up. Before anyone could say anything in response a crimson streak emerged from the woods surrounding the training ground and slammed into Sasuke sending him flying. Standing there was a human like figure crouched on all fours, his body covered in a layer of crimson chakra with what looked like two animal tail like appendages sticking out of the back. The fingers of black gloves that clad its hands had been torn revealing claw like nails. His face bore blood red eyes and on either side of his snarl of a mouth three bleeding line marks decorated each cheek.

"My god," Tifa gasped, "Cloud…"

Just then Cloud let out a low growl and turning his head he looked over at Tifa, the act caused her breath to catch in her throat. Staring into his eyes she searched for something, anything, of the Cloud that she knew and loved but could find nothing, it was if they had never existed.

Meanwhile Sasuke was also in a state of confusion. _'What…impossible, how can he possible be here? I watched him die.'_ Just then something occurred to him, _'Wait, that chakra. Its the same one Naruto used during our fight at the Valley.'_ He then looked over at Kitsune, _'But how is that possible, that dead last is supposed to be an orphan, how can there be two people with the same kind of chakra?'_

* * *

Nearby Orochimaru was watching on from the top of the Hokage's tower, "Well, isn't this interesting." He said to himself, "Seems my little experiments were successful after all."

"Talking to yourself, that not often a good sign." The pale skinned man heard a voice from behind him but didn't seem to react to this or turn around, he had been aware of Jiraiya's presence since the man appeared behind him. "So you survived your fight with sensei." He commented.

"Your surprised teme."

Jiraiya replied, "Sides we need to talk."

"Must we, haven't we other more pressing matters." Orochimaru said sounding unenthusiastic about it.

"I'm serious snake face, "Jiraiya said in a cold tone, he was about to move towards Orochimaru when suddenly Cassius appeared cutting off his approach.

"I strongly advise you against moving against my master." Cassius said in his usual tone, "I will not allow you to harm even a hair on his head."

Orochimaru chuckled. "Don't be so uptight Cassius." The pale skinned man told his captain, "Let him though, I believe that he may find the battle going on down below interesting." Without any hesitation Cassius stepped a side to let the toad sage pass.

"Very well, but do one thing for me would you." Jiriya said in a hard tone, "Cover your face, I don't like looking at it."

Cassius looked over at his master.

"If it would make you confortable." Orochimaru replied, Cassius then reapplied the cloth mask to his face. Unsure of the other man's intensions Jiraiya approached his former teammates side and down at what was going on below, his old eyes widening at the sight that greeted him.

"What, how…how can this b?" he exclaimed, down below was Cloud radiating demon chakra and another ninja that resembled Naruto, he quickly rounded on Orochimaru, "Orochimaru, is this another or your tricks?"

"Who's to say, I may have had a hand in it." Orochimaru said offhandedly which angered Jiraiya, the toad sage grabbed his former teammate by the collar and forced the man to look at him.

"I don't have time for riddles teme." Jiraiya said in a cold tone, "Start talking.

"Well if I must then I might as well start at the beginning." Orochimaru said, "I'm sure that your aware that little Naruto fell into my hands after his banishment."

"I'm aware of that part." Jiraiya retorted, "What of Cloud, why is he using Biju chakra?"

"I'll get to that part eventually. At the same time I was experimenting with the cloning process and I used him as the subject of my experiments, after all what better tool to bring this village to its knees then one of Konoha's lost son's. However using a Jinchuriki made things…difficult, the lack of yokai in their systems meant that the subjects would die within 24 hours." Orochimaru then paused, "Tell me Jiraiya, what do you know of the Fire Temple?"

"I know of it and that sensei's son Asuma used to be part of the Twelve Guardians that protected it." Jiriaya replied.

"What if I were to tell you that it contained a very powerful being? When the Kyuubi attacked Konoha a man named Kazuma discovered that excess chakra was released from its body, he managed to gather it and seal it into his own son, a boy named Sora. The boy was taken to the temple, which was supposed to be impregnable, to ensure that the boy could not be used as a weapon. However several years ago two members of the Akatsuki Hidan and Kakuzu breached the temples walls and slaughtered the monks and remaining members of the Twelve Guardians."

"I remember, Konoha dispatched a team to aid the monks and it cost Asuma his life." Jiraiya said solemnly.

"Well whilst Asuma was busy being killed I had my agents slip in and smuggled Sora right out from under the Akatsuki's nose's. Bringing him back to my lab I drained all the yokai from his body and set to work creating a new subject using the yokai to stabilize the DNA. Thanks to this I succeeded in creating a perfect replica of Naruto, down to the tiniest detail."

Just then the smirk on the snake users face twisted into a look of anger, "However I was somewhat premature in assuming I had managed to get one over on my old comrades, the Akatsuki managed to find the location of my laboratory and sent Itachi and Kisame after me, the two of them attacked and destroyed my lab forcing me to flee, Naruto and my clone somehow managed to escaped during the chaos. However despite that little set back I still had just enough yokai to create one more clone, and so I did and programed him to be the most loyal solider."

"However once I had created him I was left with the problem of how my army would survive and function now that I had used up my supply of yokai, I found the answer to be a rather simple one. I merely combined Naruto's DNA with the DNA of another, be it a person or an animal, each one of my troops containing just enough Demon chakra to allow them to live long enough to reduce this village to rubble."

"Two of them, you don't mean…" Jiraiya pulled Orochimaru towards him, "Which one Orochimaru, which one is the real Naruto?"

"Who knows," Orochimaru replied offhandedly, "With what I've learned about Shin-Ra's SOLDIER program and their experiments with Jenova, I doubt even I'd be able to tell which of them was the real one." Orochimaru then took hold of Jiraiya's hand and managed to break the grip the Toad Sage had on him. "Now no more talk, I am quite interested in how this fight will turn out." the pale skin man said as he turned his attention to what was going on below, "And I suspect that you are intrigued as well." Jiraiya shot the man a dark look he didn't want to say it but he was right, despite his desire to end the snake user here and now he knew it was his duty to bare witness to this battle.

* * *

Everyone's attention was suddenly grabbed when Cloud let out a howl before charging at Tifa, one of his clawed hands scraping along the ground leaving a long gash in the earth behind him.

"TIFA, NOOO!" Vincent cried out, he then pointed his weapon at Cloud preparing to fire off a few rounds however Vincent found he couldn't pull the trigger, _'Damn…'_ He needn't have worried however as both Kitsune and Sakura suddenly appeared before Tifa, a Rasangan in the blond Kumo ninja's hand and charged at Cloud whilst Sakura got Tifa out of harm's way, Kitsune thrust the orb of condensed chakra at the blond swordsman. A whip cracking sound filled the air and Kitsune's eyes widened as he saw one of Cloud's tails wrap around his arm stopping his attack, this was quickly followed up by Cloud using the same tail to toss Kitsune aside. It was then Sasuke joined the fray attacking Cloud with his Kusanagi forcing the blond to leap backwards to avoid the blade.

Not missing a beat Cloud then lashed out with his chakra tails both aimed at the Uchiha's head, Sasuke leaned his head out of the way to avoid the first, although not quick enough to avoid getting a scratched across his left cheek, and using is sword to block the other. However he failed to notice the smirk that had appeared on Cloud's face, the tail Sasuke had avoided wrapped around the handle of First Tsurugi and pulled the weapon out of the ground and sent it sailing at Sasuke's head.

"Sasuke, watch out!" Sakura cried out, her voice catching the Uchiha's alerting him, he quickly used Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to narrowly avoid the large Blade. Sakura then rushed forward, fist cocked back ready to deliver one of her famous monster punches on Cloud, once she was close enough she pushed her arm forward to deliver the blow. What happened however was something she did not expect, despite the speed and force of the swing the cloak of chakra that covered Cloud's body intercepted Sakura's fist keep it from reaching him. Scowling Sakura tried to retract her fist only to find she couldn't, the chakra veil that protected Cloud seemed to have her hand trapped and whatever it was she could feel it burn though the glove, the chakra tail that wielded Clouds sword lashed out at her forcing her to use Kitsune wakizashi to defend herself.

_'Damn this chakra, the fact it can manifest itself physically makes it different from any other I've ever encountered before. And the feeling it emits, just being near it turns my stomach.'_ just then Sakura flashed back to a previous time in her life, back to when Naruto fought Neji the Chuunin exams and the answer hit her with like one of her mentors monster punches, _'Wait, this chakra, its just like the one Naruto used all those years ago…could it be'_ "Yokai…demon chakra. Your just like Naruto, you're a Jinchuriki…"

Feeling the burning in her hand intensify Sakura slammed her foot into the ground creating a small shockwave which was enough to knock Cloud off balance, the pink haired Kunoichi then followed this up by heaving the possessed blond into the air and swinging him around, the force of which was enough for the chakra surrounding his body to release its hold on her hand and sent him sailing into the air before landing a few feet away. Wincing in pain Sakura applied healing chakra to her hand, the process going much slower and taking more of her chakra then she normally would, _'Shit, this is much harder then I thought.'_ She grimaced, _'I'm going to have to treat this like poison and try and extract it from my body, of course this is hardly the best time or place for doing this, still…'_ glancing about the rosette looked for a location where she could perform the procedure and hopefully not get her head ripped off, luckily her eyes fell upon a wall from a partially wrecked building not too far from where Vincent and Tifa were, _'That'll do...'_ Using Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) Sakura vanished in a swirl of leaves and reappeared behind the wall next to Tifa and Vincent. "Hey, you two doing ok?" The rosette asked as she pulling off her glove with her teeth.

"I…I, I'm…" Tifa spluttered out, her thoughts a jumbled mess, "Cloud…he…"

"We're fine." Vincent told her, "What's going on here? What's happed to Cloud?"

"Wish I knew, I'm just as surprised as you are." Sakura replied, she then shifted her focus from the pair to the task at hand, using her Saikan Chūshutsu no Jutsu (Delicate Illness Extraction Technique) to overwhelm the alien chakra and draw it out of her body until she could extract it.

Meanwhile Kitsune had also come to the same conclusion as Sakura and it troubled him. "How, how can he have Kurama?" he wondered aloud, "But if that's the case…" reaching behind him Kitsune drew the Kubikiribōchō from his back and moved in to engage the Kyubi-fied Cloud, both of their weapons meeting one another with a loud clang.

Off to the side Sasuke watched as his former teammate engaged the demonically possessed blond swordsman, like them he was also slightly confused as to what was going on. He had been sure Cloud had been dead when he'd left him lying on the ground and now here he was using the same power Naruto had used during their fight 15 years ago. _'It doesn't matter, no matter what kind of power he has its nothing compared to mine.'_ The Uchiha thought, _'I'll just have to do the job properly this time.'_ Readying his own weapon Sasuke charged at the pair of fighting blonds, lighting chakra generating around the blade as he did. As the Uchiha was preparing his move Kitsune was still busy engaged in battle with the Kyuubified Cloud, raising Kubikiribōchō he channel his wind based chakra along the blade like he would his regular weapons. "FUTON: SHIPU GIRI! Gale Cut!" With a mighty swing he sent a wave of condensed air at the possessed Cloud who responded with a Biju Shockwave sending a shockwave of orange energy back at Kitsune, the two attacks collided with one another creating a large burst of energy with enough force to knock both combatants backwards as well as kick a large amount of dust and debris into the air.

Gritting his teeth Kitsune prepared to engage Cloud again when the sound of chirping birds was heard and he saw Sasuke charging at Cloud, electrical energy crackling along the blade of his sword. "CHIDORI EISO! One Thousand Birds Sharp Spear!" Sasuke yelled as he thrust his blade forward, as he did extended forwards like a laser beam towards Cloud who barely had seconds to avoid the attack. "CHIDORI NAGASHI! One Thousand Birds Current!" Without missing a beat Sasuke followed this up by releasing a high-concentered burst of electrical energy that spread out in all directions, Cloud once again tried to dodge however the nature of Sasuke's jutsu made it difficult and eventually he was struck by it.

The same was also true for Kitsune and he cursed his dark haired former teammate for it, "Damnit idiot, watch where you aim that stuff."

Ignoring Kitsunes words Sasuke moved towards Cloud, with a growl the demon blond lashed out with the tail that wielded First Tsurugi. Not even blinking Sasuke blocked it, enhancing his weapon with Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Chidorigatana (Grass Cutting Sword: One Thousand Birds Katana). The two blades met, the enhanced blade cutting a small notch into the larger blade upon contact. In this instance both Cloud and Sasuke's eyes met, feral and demonic meeting the accursed Sharingan.

* * *

Sasuke found himself in a very different landscape, gone was the battlefield he had been on but mere seconds ago now he found himself in a seemingly endless field filled with flowers, a strange white light as well as some kind of mist filling the air. At first glance it all seemed so serene and peaceful, however taking a moment to take a second look showed that it was not as idyllic as it seemed. The plants that surrounded him were wilted and dying and there was an ominous feel in the air. Undeterred Sasuke walked through the field, as he did he noticed an orange aura seemed to be crawling along the ground, carrying with it an ominous and foreboding presence. Still he walked on until he came upon the epicenter of the disturbance, a large bubbling cloud of orange chakra that seemed to be in the shape of an animal was seeping out from between the bars of a large cage of what he guessed was the middle of this field. Just then a pair of eye appeared on the cloud, their gaze fixed upon the renegade Uchiha that was followed up by a mouth filled with deadly looking teeth that were larger then Sasuke himself.

"**You…"** A terrible sounding voice that seemed to shake the area growled out.

"So, this is the source of his strength." Sasuke commented to himself, "I never imagined that he would have something like you inside of him."

"**You can actually see me, all thanks to those accursed eyes of yours."** The cloud commented. Just then a strange black oil like substance seemed to bubble up from the ground between the cloud and Sasuke which quickly formed into a small puddle that was growing larger by the second. The cloud shifted its gaze from Sasuke to the puddle and to Sasuke's surprise a look of fear took hold of the beast.

"**No…not her! After all this time I thought she was dormant…"** Before Sasuke could question what was going on a series of tendril like appendages rose up from the black mass, as it continued to expand, which latched onto the orange cloud and seemed to be trying to merge with it, the areas of contact beginning to turn black. Sasuke looked on in horror and confusion as this went on, however before he could say or do anything something else arose from the black mass, it appeared to be female in shape, although it appeared to be lacking any kind of arms, with a pair of wings attached to its back. As it rose up the figure seemed to give off a strange kind of pressure, Sasuke felt it bearing down upon him like a great weight.

'_What this feeling, this pressure…its like nothing I've ever felt before…'_ The Uchiha grimaced, he then glanced down at his hand and found that it was shaking, _'My hands, their shaking…is, is this fear I'm feeling…'_ Just then he felt a oozing substance beneath his feet and looking down saw that they were covered in the black ooze that was beginning to creep up his leg, _'What, no…'_ desperately Sasuke tried to break free from the substance however the more he did the quicker the ooze seemed to spread up his body, soon it had engulfed almost all of him as it made its way up his neck and over his face. "No, no. NOOOOOOO!"

* * *

With a start Sasuke found himself back in the real world, a cold sweat dripping from his body and his skin pale and clammy. _'Wha, what was that….thing…'_ Sasuke thought, _'Damnit, that thing…I'm still shaking…'_

From his position Kitsune was the state that his old teammate was in, _'What's with him? One moment he's his typical bastard self, next moment he's shaking like a leaf.'_ Just then he noticed that the possessed Cloud was beginning stir. "HEY ASSHOLE, WATCH OUT!" he called out. Hearing Kitsunes words Sasuke snapped out of his state just in time to see Cloud swipe at him. However before the possessed swordsman's claws could cut into his flesh Sasuke's vision was enveloped by a red swirling mass that pulled him out of reach of the attack, once the red mist was a good distance away it reformed back into Vincent who tossed Sasuke to one side, the Uchiha glared up at him. Reaching into his holster Vincent withdrew Cerberus and pointed it at his friend.

"Cloud, snap out of it." he ordered, his finger squeezing down on the trigger, "Don't force me to shoot you." As if in response Cloud released a high pitched howl to echoed throughout the area, the aura surrounding his seemed to becoming thicker. All eyes were on the blond swordsman, each of them were confused about what was going on. All except one.

Kitsune looked on, his eyes wide in shock and even fear, _'No, he couldn't be…'_ the chakra surrounding Cloud's rear began bubbling and a second tail sprouted, quickly followed by a third. "NO! EVERYONE GET BACK…." Kitsune yelled.

'_Wha, what's happening…'_ Vincent wondered as he watched a fourth tail form, _'That power he's projecting, its vile. Is this the Jenova inside his body? No, this is something else, something totally different. What could it be?'_ Cloud's skin began to peel away revealing raw and bloody tissue underneath, his eyes loosing any resemblance of anything recognizable and became glowing orbs, a his posture becoming more bestial then before. Crouching low to the ground Cloud launched himself at Vincent, the dark haired gunslinger letting out a frustrated hiss before jumping into the air in an attempt to avoid the demon barely being able to do so. _'That was too close…'_ Vincent scowled as he sailed through the air away from the beast, however the gunmen's troubles were far from over. Cloud launched one of his arms out at Vincent, the chakra coated limb extending out to grab the man by the leg and tossed him aside into the remains of a building. That done Cloud turned his attention back to Sasuke and moves in to engage the rogue Uchiha who had only just managed to get himself off of the ground.

Sasuke prepared to defend himself when an image of the thing he had seen in Clouds psyche flashed before his eyes causing him to freeze up for a brief second, and that brief second was all Cloud needed as he lashed out at him with three of his tails, one going through both his shoulders and the third piercing his gut.

Behind the wall where she was hiding Sakura had finished extracting the demon chakra from her body and she and Tifa looked out at the scene of battle. "Sasuke…" Sakura hissed, "What's wrong with him? He should be able to dodge something like that with no problem."

Cloud launched his clawed hand at Sasuke grabbing him by the face and retracted his tails violently from the mans body, once that was done he whirled him around in the air a few times before releasing him and sent him soaring through the air, colliding with the Hokage's Tower, partially embedding him in the wall.

"No Sasuke!" Sakura cried out at the sight of the Uchiha being sent flying, shocked at how he was defeated so easily. Her outcry however prove to be a mistake, Cloud's ears twitched and turned his head in Sakura and Tifa direction. "Oh shit…" Sakura cursed as Cloud began charging in her direction, First Tsurigi swinging wildly above him as he did.

However before he could reach the two girls three Kitsune's appeared before him, two using their Kubikiribōchō's to block his sword whilst their third delivered a vicious kick to the demons face which knocked him backwards. A dozen more Kitsunes appeared and rushed at Cloud who seemed to dodge their attacks or used his tails and sword to destroy them. Whilst this was happening a pair of Kitsune's stood off to the side, the first releasing chakra from the palm of his right hand whilst the other was molding it in a sphere like shape. Once that was done Kitsune added wind chakra to the mix, the orb gaining three blade like protrusions to it. Dismissing the clone Kitsune charged at the possessed Cloud. "FUTON: RASANSHURIKEN! Spiralling Shuriken!" he cried out, his target turning his head just in time to see the Kumo ninja to drive the orb into his chest which sent him flying through the air, First Tsurigi released from its grip and clattered to the ground, before crashing into a pile of debris. Grunting in pain and clutching his right arm Kitsune said, _'Damn, I had to pour more wind chakra into that Rasangan then I wanted. My arm, I can barely feel it…'_

"Naruto…" Hearing a voice Kitsune saw Sakura and Tifa emerge from their hiding place, the rosette heading over in his direction whilst Tifa went to check on her husband, "Naruto, wait there. I'll fix you up. "

"Stay there." He ordered, "Don't come any closer." Before Sakura could say anything else the sound of growling filled the air and Cloud burst forth from the rubble pile he had landed in. a scowl formed on Kitsunes face_, 'Damn, guess I have no other choice.'_ "Everyone get out of here, leave him to me." He told the others. Sakura looked over at her former teammate,

"But Naruto…"

"Don't argue, just do it." Kitsune snapped as he glanced over at Sakura, his eyes were now red with silted irises, the whisker marks on his cheeks thicker and darker and his hair was wilder then before.

Sakura stared at him feeling slightly unnerved, the last time she's seen him like this was back when he fought Orochimaru back in the Forest of Death, "Naruto…"

Driving Kubikiribōchō into the ground Kitsune let out a cry as demon chakra was released and covered his body taking the form of a fox, the tail growing from his rear dividing into the two which divided again into four, his skin peeling away revealing blood and muscle underneath, however it didn't end there the tail divided again and a fifth and sixth tail appeared. From the mass of chakra emerged what looked like animal bones and formed themselves along Kitunes back and with legs draping themselves over the swordsman's limbs and a skull over his head. As he transformed Kitsune's posture became more bestial until he was down on all fours, snarling at its four-tailed counterpart.

The pair of Kyuubi-fied warriors growled and snarled at one another before Kitsune dashed towards Cloud to which he responded to by driving his chakra arms and tails into the ground, as Kitsune dashed forwards Cloud's arms and tails erupted from the ground in an attempt to catch the man however Kitsune was able to avoid them easily. Kitsune leapt into the air and extended his arm to slash at Cloud who jumped backwards to avoid it and responded in kind, the pair ripping and slashing at one another like a pair of wild animals.

From her position Sakura watched as the two of them went at it, racking her brain to find any clue as to how things had progressed to this point but could find no answer. _'What's happening, how did it come to this…'_ she thought, he hands balled up so tightly that it hurt, _'Damn, despite all the training and hard work I've put in over the years once again I'm completely useless…'_

Back with the two fighting Jinchuriki Kitsune ducked out of the way of another of Clouds wild swipes and delivered a vicious head butt to his opponent which left him momentarily stunned, seeing this opening Kitsune lunged at Cloud and sank his teeth into the ex-mercenaries throat which caused Cloud to howl out in pain.

"CLOUD…" Tifa cried out, despite knowing that her long time friend was not himself it still pained her to hear the cries of pain coming from him. Just then Cloud let out another howl, but not one of pain this time, and a strange dark red aura was released from the mans body, its emergence packing enough force to release Kitsunes grip and send him flying backwards. It was then portion of the chakra on Clouds back began to bubble and churn and from his back emerged a large black ragged looking demons wing, its appearance shocking everyone who was watching.

"W…what is that?" Sakura gasped out.

"Vincent, is that…" Tifa asked her husband in a panicked tone.

"Yeah, Jenova." Vincent replied.

Flapping his wing Cloud took to the air and rushed at Kitsune who tried to swipe at him with his extendable arms however Cloud was able to easily avoid them, he then collided with Kitsune and hoisted him into the air where his ability to fight was greatly reduced. Thanks to the combination of being in his Biju form combined with the Jenova in his body Cloud was quicker and more agile then he was before moving so fast it looked as though he was teleporting about, appearing behind Kitsune and delivering vicious blows and then vanishing before the Kumo swordsman could retaliate. After several successful attacks on Kitsune Cloud vanished and reappeared above him, the second he reappeared small black orbs of blood and chakra appeared around him and began to coalesce into a ball above Clouds which shank in size, once it was small enough both Cloud swallowed in and swelled up momentarily before firing a powerful ball of energy from his mouth at his opponent. The Bijūdama (Tailed Beast Ball) connected with Kitsune releasing a large burst of energy.

Sakura stared wide-eyed at the powerful release of energy, her entire being felt numbed and unable to move despite herself, just then she felt something wrap around her waist before she was catapulted into the air. Looking over she saw Vincent, who was also holding onto Tifa, the threesome landed a mile from where Cloud and Kistune had been fighting.

"What are you doing, I need to get back there." Sakura yelled at the man.

"Are you crazy, you'd have been vaporized if Vincent hadn't got you out of there." Tifa retorted.

"What if Naruto is seriously hurt? I'm a medic, it's my job to treat his injuries." Sakura said stubbornly. The pair glared at one another whilst Vincent had turned his attention back to the place where Cloud and Kitsune had been fighting that was now nothing but a large creator.

"Tifa," He said in his usual gruff tone, "I'm heading back." He then took to the air once more sailing over the rooftops. Still frowning Sakura leapt off the roof and dashed after him.

"Hey, wait…" Tifa cried out after her, "Damnit." Muttering to herself the busty brunette took off after her. Vincent glided through the air and descended into the creator, in the center he discovered Kitsune, the yokai had dissipated from his body revealing his burned off skin and struggling to breath. Not too far away from him the dark haired gunslinger saw Cloud who looked like he was moving in to finish the blond swordsman off. Cursing Vincent drew Cerberus from its holster and charged at where Cloud was firing off a few shots from which got his possessed friends attention. Snarling Cloud rushed towards Vincent and slashed at him with his claws, the dark haired man doing his best to avoid them. It was then Vincent noticed something out of the corner of his eye, a tall man with waist-length, spiky white hair clad in a green short shirt kimono and matching pants; with a red haori worn over the top as well as wooden geta on his feet. The man appeared beside Kitsune and gathered the man up in his arms, the man looking over and shooting Vincent a small look before vanishing.

Seeing that Kistune was now out of danger Vincent turned his attention back to Cloud who was still trying to claw the gunslingers face off, Cloud made another swipe at Vincent only for him to leap backwards out of Clouds reach. _'Damn, guess I got no other choice…' _he cursed to himself, _'Ok Strife, you better appreciate what I'm about to do for you…'_ A crimson mist like energy was released from the mans body which was followed by a flash of light as well as kicking up a cloud of dust, when the light faded and the dust settled standing there stood a demonic looking creature that bore Vincent's face. Chaos let out a cry that filled the air and anyone who heard felt their blood run cold.

* * *

Sakura ran through the streets, her attention focused on one goal: find Naruto. Seeing him again had brought back a lot of memories of their time together, both the good and the bad. All the things that he had done for her back when, whenever she had been feeling down he had always been the one to try and snap her out of her funk even if she just got annoyed at him, it was only in the time that he had been gone had Sakura come to realize just how much he had been a part of her life and all that he had meant to her. It was there in that moment she swore things were going to be different, even if he resented her for the rest of his life she was going to do something for him for a change.

"Hey, wait up already." Glancing over her shoulder Sakura saw Tifa, she had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she had forgotten that the brunette had been following her, the rosette was actually impressed that she'd been able to keep up with her. As the pair continued a small burst of wind kicked up and Jiraiya suddenly appeared before them, the toad sage holding something in his arms. "Jiraiya-sama…" Sakura said in a surprised voice.

"Sakura?" Jiraiya replied in an equally surprised tone, "What are you doing here, you were supposed to be in charge of the secondary medic station."

"Uh, yeah. About that…" Sakura said sheepishly.

"We'll talk about this later. Right now I need your skills as a medic right now." The sage placed the person he was carrying on the ground.

"My god, its Kitsune." Tifa gasped, horrified at the sight of the state he was in.

"So that's what he's calling himself now." Jiraiya muttered to himself, "Sakura, get to work." Not wasting a second Sakura got to work sweat poured from her brow and her features twisted into a frown as she applied healing chakra to her former teammate. Meanwhile Jiraiya turned his attention to Tifa who was watching the pink haired medic work, "Why hello there miss, I can't believe I missed a beauty such as you. Tifa slipped off the glove on her right hand revealing her wedding ring.

"Nice try buster, I'm spoken for." She told him, "Please mister, what can you tell me about what's going on? Why does Cloud have that weird aura, why did he attack us?"

Jiraiya regarded her for a few seconds before turning away. "I'm sorry Miss, but now is not the time for talk. I've just learned what's happening and I can hardly believe it myself." He told her, "As for Cloud, all we can do is hope that your friend in the red cloak can bring him back."

Tifa bit her lip and clenched her fists tight_. 'Please Vincent, bring Cloud back to us…'_

* * *

Back at the crater both demonic entities were growling and snarling at one another. Red energy began forming around Chaos that compacted itself it a ball; with a cry the squire of Omega fired it as a beam at Cloud who managed to avoid it. The Biju enhanced ex-mercenary turned his head towards Chaos only to find him gone, the Kyuubi host looked about for any sign of his opponent and as he did Chaos appeared and swiped at Cloud with his clawed hand. Cloud snarled and turned to lash out at Chaos only for the demon to vanish once again, he reappeared again, this time behind Cloud and delivered a vicious kick to the swordsman's head. Chaos lunged at Cloud again to deliver another blow however this time Cloud had adopted Chaos's trick and vanished from sight. It was now Chaos's turn to search the area for any sign of his quarry, just then the ground beneath him erupted as Cloud emerged. Spreading his wings Chaos took to the air in an attempt to avoid Cloud's claws, not to be outdone Cloud took off after him and launched his arms and tails at Chaos who was just able to avoid them. Cloud followed this assault up by releasing an ear splitting roar that produced a shockwave of energy and sent it at Chaos, with no time to dodge the demon responded by producing another burst of crimson energy, the two attacks colliding with one another resulting in an explosion that rocked the area.

* * *

From her position on the ground Tifa looked up and observed the battle that was raging in the sky, her hands clutching her chest as she looked on. Her husbands transformations into Chaos was always something that scared her, despite the Protomateria in his chest she always worried that the demon would somehow gain control of Vincent's body and the man she loved would be lost to her. And on top of that her oldest friend was making her feel the exact same way, his transformation into that…thing shook her to her core but still she wanted to believe that something of the man she knew was still there. But when she had looked into his eyes she had found nothing but a savage beast. Her heart ached at the sight going on above her head. _'Cloud…Vincent, please…please come back to me…'_

Meanwhile she was not the only one looking on, across the village all combatants had turned their attention to the skies above Konoha and watched the two powerful beings clash with baited breath. From his position on the tower Orochimaru looked on, a look of utter wonderment on his pale face.

"Yes, marvelous. This is beyond all I could have predicted." He said to himself, his eyes fell upon Chaos, "Such a wondrous specimen, I must have him…"

* * *

Back in the skies both Cloud and Chaos were once again glaring at one another, both waiting for the slightest hint of movement from the other. Letting out another snarl Chaos extended his right arm and in a flash Vincent's most powerful weapon Death Penalty, a quadruple barreled miniature cannon, appeared. Pointing the weapon at Cloud Chaos pulled the trigger and a beam of black energy was fired from the weapon at its target, Cloud narrowly avoiding the attack. Cloud flickered out of view and reappeared above Chaos and swiped at the man/demon with his claws only for Chaos to pull the same trick and vanished from view and reappeared behind Cloud. Chaos went to fire off another shot from Death Penalty however Cloud pulled off his teleportation trick again before the shot could connect. Cloud then reappeared again, this time below Chaos.

The Jenova enhanced Jinchuriki then lashed out with one of his tails and wrapped it around Chaos's neck effectively stopping any escape attempt the demonic entity could make, with the other three he began charging up another Bijūdama. As he swallowed the ball of condensed chakra Cloud snapped his tails releasing Chaos and sent him hurtling towards the ground, seconds later he released the Bijūdama and sent the burst of demonic energy at Chaos. A smirk formed on Cloud's face as he watched as the beam engulfed Chaos and seemed to vaporize him.

However his victory was short lived, sensing a presence behind him Cloud whipped round and found himself staring down the quadruple barrels of Death Penalty, glancing upwards his eyes connected with those of Chaos and the two stared at one another. After what seemed like an eternity, when in reality it was seconds, Chaos pulled the trigger releasing a burst of black energy that connected with Cloud point blank and sent him flying backwards before smashing into the ground.

* * *

Back on the ground Tifa was running towards the spot Cloud had fallen, although she was unaware which of them she would find, when she arrived she saw Cloud lying there, his body in the same condition that Kitsune's had been. "Cloud…" she cried as she dashed over to his side and frantically searched for even the smallest sign of life, "Cloud, please…." Just then she heard a slight moaning sound followed by Cloud letting out a cough causing a sense of relief to flood through the brunette. "Cloud…just stay still, it's alright now."

Hearing the voice Cloud tried to sit up however a wave of pain spread through his body which prevented him. "T…Tifa…" he managed to get out in a pain filled whisper.

"I'm here Cloud," Tifa replied, "Its ok, just lie still. We'll get you some help."

From above Chaos observed the two, had the demon had greater control over its host body he might have gone to finish off Cloud if only to make sure there was not even the slightest chance of the blond trying and steal his mate away however Vincent was once more in control of himself, despite this though he couldn't help but feel a small pang of jealously from observing the two. Knowing that he was not yet done here he quickly focused himself on the task at hand and vanished from view.

* * *

From atop the Hokage's Tower Orochimaru and Cassius had observed the battle, first between the possessed Cloud and Kistune and then the one between the blond man against Vincent/Chaos, a look of rather twisted joy spread across the pale skinned man's face as he replayed the events in his mind. He was however snapped out of his musings when Kabuto appeared at his side. "Ah Kabuto, you've missed a most interesting and entertaining fight." Orochimaru told his subordinate, "Still what have you to report, how goes the battle?"

"Not good I'm afraid my lord," Kabuto replied in a off-handed tone, "Things were going well until Suna's forces finally arrived along with soldiers from Kumo, as of this time we've our forces have been reduced to 45%. Iwa is down to 30% and Kusaga's forces are almost depleted."

"I see, that is a bother." Orochimaru replied, his tone not even containing a single note of concern.

"If I may say so Orochimaru-sama I believe it may be time to make a hasty retreat." Kabuto suggested.

Before anyone could say anything else Chaos appeared before them, an unconscious Sasuke being dangled by the collar of his shirt. Cassius was about take out a kunai but Orochimaru stopped

"I strongly suggest that you take four eyes advice." The demon hissed, "And take this piece of trash with you." He tossed the unconscious Uchiha at Orochimaru's feet, with that done he then pointed Death Penalty at the small group. "Go on, get out. Leave here before I change my mind."

There was a tense moment of silence between the four of them. "Kabuto Cassius, we're done here." Orochimaru said bluntly, his eyes never leaving Chaos's "Spread the word we're pulling out."

"Yes Orochimaru-sama." Cassius bowed whilst Kabuto just nodded, the pair then vanished in the blink of an eye leaving Orochimaru behind.

The snake Sannin scooped down and picked up Sasuke before looking back at Chaos one last time, "Until next time." And with those words he vanished. Chaos stared at the spot for a few moments before vanishing himself.

* * *

Meanwhile Tifa was still at Cloud's side keeping a look out for anyone, the noise of battle had ceased however since she couldnt be sure for the reasons behind this she didn't want to risk leaving Cloud in his weakened condition incase an enemy found him. Just then she heard and looking round saw Jiraiya headed towards her. "It you, Mr. errr…."

"What, you've forgotten me already?" Jiraiya said in a tone of mock hurt, "Never has such a thing is an improbable occurrence and I assure you young lady one that will never happen again. Trust me, you will never again forget the great Toad Sage, the great and powerful Jiraiya."

In spite of herself Tifa couldn't help but crack a smile at the man's antics. "What are you doing here? What about Sakura and Kitsune?"

"Them, Sakura's taking Naruto back to one of the medical stations so she can treat him properly," Jiraiya replied as he knelt down to check on Cloud's condition, "We'd best do the same for him."

"Then we'd best get a move on." A voice caught the pair's attention and looking round found Vincent standing there.

"Vincent…" Tifa cried out sounding relieved, she then dashed over and embraced him.

"Don't worry, the enemy is pulling out." he told her.

"That's good." She replied, "Cloud's here but he's in pretty rough shape, we need to get him to a doctor and quick."

Vincent removed himself from her embrace and scooped up Cloud and lifted him onto his shoulder, "Lets go."

* * *

AN And with that this chapter is done, I know its little overdue however once again life happened. I hope you all got something out of this, there were some tilts and turns and things were revealed.

With this the Invasion Arc is over, from here we gonna move into a short arc which will deal with some of the aftermath of the Invasion Arc as well as setting up for the next part of the story.

Anyway I'm done, I've already begun work on the next chapter and hope to have it finished as soon as I can.

BTW and I get 1000 reviews all pointing it out yes I did read chapter 615.

Also I've been toying with the idea of getting some art done for this story, my proofreader already sent me some suggestions but I figured I'd also ask if any of you could recommend or even be willing to do it send me a message.

Till next time  
Later


	20. Chapter 15

AN "Blah"- Normal speech  
_'Blah'_- Thoughts  
**"Blah"**- Summons

* * *

_Naruto/Final Fantasy VII_

Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 15

Aftermath Arc part 1

Sakura looked over at her charge as they made their way back to the secondary medical station via the toad, Gamakichi, that Jiraiya had summoned to transport them. She had done what she could for him, Kitsune's breathing had returned to normal and his skin was looking less raw, however she knew he was no where near out of danger and she'd burned through most of her chakra fighting Sasuke, Jugo the countless Oto ninja along the way as well as extracting the Yokai from her body. Before she knew it they had arrived back at the Academy.

"**Alright everybody, end of the line."** Gamakichi told them.

"Thanks Gama-chan." Sakura said as she hopped off his back and scooped Kitsune up and lifted him on to her back, "Sorry I don't have any snacks for you, but I'll be sure to remind Jiraiya to pick up something extra special for you."

"**Tsk, better then nothing I guess."** The orange toad replied, **"Well see ya round."** And with that he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Entering the hospital Sakura was instantly engulfed by the chaos that was going on around her, medics were rushing to and fro from one patient to the next, the air was filled with the sounds of various cries as the wounded were treated, their injuries ranging from simple chakra exhaustion or such that could be treated however others would not be as fortunate.

"Sakura, Sakura…" hearing her name the rosette looked round and saw Ino who was standing next to a bench where Choji was seated, the Akimichi had bandages wrapped around his gut.

"Ino, what's going on?" Sakura asked.

"These are injured from the west gate." Ino replied; "Choji took command of a small group that had been cut off when Yamato's forces were forced to pull back, they held the line there for as long as they could."

"What about Anko, how's she doing?" Sakura inquired. Ino's gaze shifted to her shoes.

"Not good, they managed to stabilize her but…they estimate her chakra network suffered sever damage, even if she pulls through her ninja career is probably finished." Ino looked back up at her. "What about you, where have you been?"

"Long story, and it'll have to wait." She then strode over and placed Kitsune on a mat near to where Chouji was, both he and Ino shocked at his appearance.

"Wait, is that…" Chouji began.

"No time for questions," Sakura told him, "Have either of you got any Soldier Pills left?" Chouji picked his flack jacket off the ground and produced two from one of the pockets and offered them to Sakura who snatched them up and swallowed them immediately, that done she got to work healing Kitsune's remaining wounds. She had barely finished when the door opened and in walked Tifa and Vincent, the latter still carrying Cloud. "Tifa, Vincent." Sakura said relieved to see them, just then she saw the figure slumped over Vincent's shoulder, "Wait, is that…" Vincent said nothing as he strode over and placed Clouds barely conscious form on the mat next to Kitsune.

"On my, Cloud…" Ino gasped.

"Cloud!" A voice cried out and looking round Sakura saw a young woman with short black hair hurrying over followed by a young girl with red hair.

"Yuffie, Shelke." Tifa said to the pair, "Glad to see your both alright."

"I take it these two are with you." Sakura said.

"Sakura, meet Yuffie and Shelke, two of our comrades from AVALANCHE." Vincent told the rosette,

"Can you fix him up?"

"Sure," Sakura replied, "Ino, take care of this whilst I finish up with Naruto." Expecting something along the lines of 'yes ma'am' Sakura looked over and saw her friend looking worriedly at Cloud. "Ino, Ino." She said in a sharp tone that snapped the blond out of her state, "Get to work."

"R…right." Ino replied she quickly set to work applying healing chakra to Clouds body.

"Is he gonna be alight? Yuffie asked.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of him." Sakura assured her, she then looked back over at Vincent and Tifa, "Where is Jiraiya-sama? When I left to bring Naruto here he said he was needed in the field."

"He showed us how to get here and left to go find your leader, he said he had important information that she needed to hear." Tifa explained. Just then the busty brunette began to feel dizzy and her legs gave out underneath her.

"Tifa…" Without hesitation Vincent wrapped his arms around his wife's frame and supported her.

"Tifa, are you alright?" Yuffie half yelled.

"I…I feel dizzy." Tifa replied.

"Quick, set her down." Choji said as her scooting overt.

Vincent didn't waste any time and placed down on the bench beside the rather portly man. "You just rest here, I'm heading back out." Vincent told her, he then looked over at Yuffie, "You stay here and watch her."

"Sure thing." Yuffie replied.

"Lets go Shelke." Vincent headed towards the door with Shelke in tow. Sakura was about to get back to work on Kitsune when she looked over at Tifa whom Choji was doing his best to engage in conversation.

"Just rest there, someone will be with you as soon as they can."

"Don't worry about me, you've already got people who need the attention more then I do." Tifa replied.

* * *

Far from the chaos of the medical center Orochimaru and his minions Kabuto and Cassius, whom was carrying the unconscious Sasuke on his back, were hurrying across the landscape at a swift pace. Kabuto looked over at his master, a look of irritation was forming on the pale mans face. Despite his attitude before they pulled out it was quite clear that the outcome was bothering his master and it wasn't difficult to figure out why, the plan was flawless.

Even with Suna's help there should have been no way for both Konoha and Suna to repel the army that had opposed them, especially the soldiers that had been specially bred for the task. However he had not expected two things, two elements that had brought all his plans crashing down, one had been Kumo coming to the rescue, not a completely unreasonable oversight given the circumstances and the history between the two villages, the other had been underestimating Cloud Strife. Some would say it was laughable for one man to tip the scales of battle but somehow the blonde swordsman had done so.

"Orochimaru-sama…" the grey haired nin said. The pale skinned snake user glanced over at his subordinate, the look on his face vanishing.

"Do not concern yourself Kabuto, today's outcome whilst not the one I was hoping for was not without its merits." He replied, "The clone army was a complete success, they broke through the villages walls and were clearly a match for whomever was unfortunate enough to cross their path." He then turned his gaze to the prone form of Sasuke. "Besides I believe we've found a candidate for the next batch. With an army of soldiers containing both Uchiha and Uzumaki DNA we should have little trouble crushing whomever may stand against us."

A small smile formed on Kabuto's face, "What are your orders my lord."

"For the time being we shall fall back to the camp in Kusagakure, we shall regroup there and prepare for our next move." Orochimaru told his two companions.

"Hai." Kabuto replied whilst Cassius merely nodded in response. Before long the trio were in sight of the border that separated Hi no Kuni and Kusaga, whatever was left of the force that had assaulted Konoha would be there waiting for them. Orochimaru wasn't naïve enough to believe that there wouldn't be any repercussions from their failed assault, the respective heads of Kusaga and Iwa would be wanting compensation in one form or another on their part. It didn't worry him; he would deal with that when the time came. Right now he was already making plans.

* * *

Back in Konoha Jiraiya was walking through the halls of the hospital to meet up with Tsunade, both Garra and Aoi on his trail. He had met the pair, both of whom were searching for Kakashi, whilst organizing all the remaining Konoha nin who hadn't been killed or were being treated. The trio made their way through a set of double doors and was greeted by the sight of pandemonium, doctors and nurses rushing about the place going from one patient to the next. Scanning the area he caught sight of his teammate who looked rather worn out. "Tsunade." He called out to her, catching her attention Tsunade looked round and saw the three of them headed towards her.

"Jiraiya, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be busy supervising our forces?" she asked, she then turned to the red haired Kazekage, "Thanks for the assistance Garra, we might not have been able to hold out much longer."

"No problem." Garra replied.

Tsunade then looked over at Aoi. "Well this is a surprise, I never in all my days ever thought we'd get help from Kumo. I take it you're the new Raikage?"

"Greeting mistress Senju, it is an honor to meet you." Aoi said in a polite tone.

"Anyway enough of that." Jiraiya said, "Where's Kakashi, I have some information that he needs to hear immediately."

"He's resting." Tsunade told him, "I cannot permit anyone to see him in his current condition."

"It concerns Naruto and his connection to Orochimaru's army." Jiraiya said in a firm tone.

Tsuande's expression twisted into a frown, "I'll take you to him." Turning around the busty blonde medic lead them along a corridor, but not before yelling a command to one of the others to take charge, until they came to a room that had a pair of ANBU standing guarding outside. Inside they found Kakashi lying in a bed with Shizune at his side, the dark haired woman making sure that he was comfortable, the sound of the door being opened getting both of their attention.

"Tsuande-sama." Shizune said, clearly surprised by her former masters arrival.

Once they were inside Jiraiya quickly shut and locked the door before heading to the window, once he was sure that they were closed he drew the curtains and quickly set running through a series of seals.

"Jiraiya?" Kakashi asked in a confused tone.

"Forgive my paranoia, however I need to be certain that this room is secure and what I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room." The aged ninja replied. He then proceeded to tell the others what Orochimaru had told him.

"My god…" Shizune gasped, the news that Orochimaru had used Naruto to create his new army turned her stomach.

Kakashi had stayed silent whilst Jiraiya had given his report, much like Shizune this news troubled him deeply. Mustering up whatever strength remained in his exhausted body he slowly managed to sit up. "Jiraiya head back out there, I want you and every available hand we have to round up every Oto ninja you can find. Take them to the dungeons underneath the tower." He then looked over at Tsunade. "Tsunade once Jiaraiya's done I want you to examine every single one of them, draft anyone you have to but get it done."

"Right." Jiraiya replied, he then made a hand sign and released his jutsu, "Remember no one breath's a word of this to anyone." He then turned around and exited the room.

"Come Shizune, we need to go as well." Tsunade told her former disciple, "There's still work to be done."

"R…right Tsunade-sama." Shizune replied she then gave a respectful bow before she followed her master out of the room.

Once they'd left Kakashi collapsed, it had taken all the strength he had left in his body just sit up and it had just given out. "Sorry about that, never imagined that just sitting up would be so tiring." He told his two fellow Kages.

Garra said nothing in response; he merely turned on his heel and made for the door leaving Kakashi and Aoi alone with one another.

"Not much of a talker is he." Aoi said.

"That's just his way." Kakashi replied, "I must say I never expected that Kumo would ever have come to our aid, but you did and for that I thank you. Your arrival really turned the tide of that battle."

"Think nothing of it." Aoi said, "I'm glad that I finally got to meet you Kakashi-san, although I never imagined it would ever have been like this."

"Given the history between our villages I'm surprised we're meeting at all." Kakashi said plainly.

A small frown spread across Aoi's face, "Yes, our history. It is not something I am proud of, it has caused much grief and suffering on both sides."

* * *

His whole being wracked with pain Cloud found himself in a town, one that seemed rather familiar to him, but there were no people. The whole place was totally still with not even a bird or animal of any kind in sight. Despite this the sound of faraway voices could just be heard echoing off in the distance.

'_Wha…what's this?'_ he wondered, _'What is this place?'_ Just then something occurred to him, _'Wait, is this…Edge?'_ he couldn't believe how he could have missed it; here he was standing in a street in the town that he had made his home in. Picking up his pace Cloud ran through the streets desperately trying to find a sign of life until he came to the town center. _'Damn, where is everyone…'_ It was then an ominous feeling filled the air accompanied by a cruel sounding chuckle.

"Good to see you…Cloud." Whirling round Cloud saw a man clad in black leather, long silver hair cascading down his back down to his knees.

"You, Sephiroth…" Cloud exclaimed, "But…but how, your…"

"Yes." Sephiroth said. Just then the look on Cloud's face shifted into one of fear as something dawned on him,

"Wait, if your dead then is this…am I…"

"Not yet." Sephiroth said, "But you are close."

"What do you mean close?" Cloud demanded.

"Just as I said." Sephiroth replied, "Think of this place as a in-between place, a space that exists between the world of the living and the Life Stream." There was a small burst of light and the silver haired man's legendary blade, Masumune, appeared in his hand which he then pointed at Clouds throat. "Now come Cloud, let us depart." Sephiroth told our blond hero, "The Promised Land is waiting, a place for you has been prepared. Just think of it, the two of us can battle for all eternity."

A small bead of sweat rolled down Cloud's face as he broke down the situation that he currently found himself in. First, he was supposedly dead and floating in some kind of limbo dimension. Second, before him was, according to popular culture anyway, his nemesis. Third, said nemesis had a sword pointed at his throat. Lastly he had no weapon of his own to defend himself. So yeah, this wasn't exactly a great situation to be in.

Elsewhere Kitsune was in a pretty much identical situation to Cloud, only he found himself in the streets of Konoha and was confronted by nine individuals all clad in Akatsuki robes and masks that covered their whole heads. Each of them were advancing on the blond warrior, several of whom were armed with Tanto's whilst others preferred to use jutus or their bare hands, and it was all he could do to dodge as best he could at the moment.

'_Damn…'_ he inwardly cursed as one of the masked figures used a fire jutsu that he ducked out of the way of, _'How the hell did I get into this mess?'_ Two more of the cloaked figures rushed at Kitsune, one with his tanto drawn that he swung at Kitsune whilst the other used a Taijitsu style that he wasn't familiar with, forcing him to decide whether to avoid the tanto or block the others Taijutsu strike. In the end he had no other choice but to avoid the first blade and take the seconds blows.

The mans palm slammed into his left shoulder, Kitsune gritted his teeth and let out a hiss as he felt the limb be forced from its socket and dangle limply. Having taken his licks Kitsune went to retaliate however when he went to strike back both of his assailants seemed to melt away as if their bodies were made of smoke before reappearing beside the others. "What?" Kitsune exclaimed.

Faced with the seemingly desperate situation they were in both blondes tried to think about what they should do next, however before either of them could come up with anything something happened that shook the area around them catching everyone off guard. Seeing this opportunity both Cloud and Kitsune wasted little time in capitalizing on it, Cloud ducked out of the way of Sephiroth's sword and quickly backed up out of its range whilst Kitsune used it to put some distance between himself and his assailants. Ducking into an alleyway Kitsune grit his teeth as he did his best to pop his shoulder back into place and not cry out in pain whilst doing it.

* * *

Meanwhile Cloud was doing his best to stay one step ahead of Serphiroth, the silver haired nightmares ridiculously long blade making it difficult to avoid.

"ud…oud" the sound of a voice from somewhere in the distance caught Cloud's attention as he ducked out of the way of another of Serphiroth's attacks.

'_What was that just now?'_ he wondered.

Seeing that his prey was distracted, Sephiroth began charging up several small fireballs with the intention of launching them at Cloud. He never got the chance however as another quake shook the area knocking the pair off balance. The situation reversed itself and this time it was Cloud's turn to capitalize on Serphiroth's moment of weakness, he charged forward and rammed his shoulder into the man's chest knocking not just the wind out of him but also off his feet as well. He also drop his sword. Seeing this Cloud quickly snatched up the weapon and pointed it at his silver haired enemy,

"Stay down, if you know what's good for you you'll stay down." He told him in a stern tone.

"Well isn't this interesting," Sephiroth said, "Now our roles are revered, however one thing is still the same. Your still close to dead."

Doing his best to keep his expression even, Cloud began backing up, never moving the blade from Serphiroth's throat.

"oud…loud…" that voice from before was heard again, this time slightly louder and clearer then before.

Cloud glanced around trying to find any clue as to where it was coming from, and then looking over his shoulder his shoulder he saw it. There at the end of the street was a building with a sign over the door that read '7th Heaven', an almost ethereal glow surrounding the door.

"CLOUD..." Once again the voice rang out, this time louder and clearer then before and resonating from the direction of 7th Heaven.

Narrowing his gaze Cloud looked back at Sephiroth, the silver haired man slowly rose to his feet,

"So what are you going to do, Cloud?"

Slowly walking backwards Cloud threw the weapon at Sephiroth forcing him to duck to avoid it, he then took the opportunity to turn and run towards the glowing door, never once looking back at his foe.

"I don't think so Cloud." Sephiroth said as he conjured up some more fireballs, once he was done charging them he launched them at Cloud's retreating form.

His legs pumping and blood pounding in his ears Cloud dashed towards 7th Heaven, he didn't know what it was that was drawing him towards it and he didn't care, it had to be better then his current situation. That being said no matter how hard he pushed himself the door didn't seem to be getting any closer. Just then small explosions rocked the area around him, almost knocking him off balance, and then something struck him in the back and forced him to the ground. Grunting and panting Cloud pushed himself up onto his elbows and tried to force himself back up when something pierced his left leg causing him to cry out in pain, looking back the former mercenary saw Serphiroth's blade sticking out of it. The sound of footsteps was heard and he saw Sephiroth approach.

"What do you think your doing Cloud? Do you honestly think I'm going to allow you to walk through that door." he told our hero, taking hold of the hilt of his weapon he yanked it free of Cloud's leg, "You're coming with me Cloud, you will pass into the next world even if I have to drag you there myself." His features twisted into a look of pain Cloud stared back at Sephiroth trying to find any way of escaping the silver haired Jenova spawn's grasp no matter how slim, however things were looking grim.

_'Damnit, is this really it? Despite everything I've done and seen is this how it ends.'_ He shook his head as if trying to banish these thought, _'No this can't be it; I don't want to die here, not like this. I want to see my friends, I want to see them all again. I don't want to die...I don't want to die...'_

Just then a loud clang rang out, opening his eyes Cloud saw a dark spiky haired figure clad in black standing between him and Sephiroth wielding a very familiar blade. The figure glanced over his shoulder and flashed a stunned looking Cloud and grin. "Z...Zack!" Cloud exclaimed.

"Hey buddy." Zack replied, "Is this guy giving you trouble?"

Just then a warm sounding laugh filled the air and Cloud felt a warm feeling spread throughout his body, all the pain that had been there a second ago vanishing. Looking around Cloud founding himself staring into a very familiar, smiling face.

"I...I don't...Aerith." Aeirth placed a finger on Cloud's lips silencing him.

"Shhh." she then stood up, a staff appearing in her hand, "Its not your time yet Cloud."

"Get going we'll handle this guy." Zack added. Cloud watched as the pair moved in to engage Sephiroth, Zack locked his oversized blade with the silver haired man's katana whilst Aerith used a series of spells to both aid her dark haired companion and to weaken Sephiroth.

Aerith looked back at him, "What are you waiting for? The other are waiting for you." Cloud got back to his feet again and once more began heading towards the door, seeing this Sephiroth tried to lunge forward to impale him once again however he was instantly blocked by Zack.

"Hey hey, why are you in such a rush." The dark haired swordsman said, "You'd think I wasn't good enough for you."

With each step Cloud drew closer and closer to 7th Heaven until he stood before the door, taking a moment to glance back one more time at his friends he placed his hand on the door and pushed it open and was bathed in the otherworldly light.

* * *

Slowly the light that filled Clouds vision began to fade and blurry images began coming into view along with the sound of muffled voices, eventually the world around him came into focus and he was greeted by the sight of several people staring down at him, one of whom was a tired and relived looking Ino.

"Look, he's coming around." One of them said.

"I'm going to take this as a sign that he's out of danger." Another said.

"Ok boys you can go, I can handle things from here." Ino told her two companions that Cloud assumed were doctors.

"Are you sure?" One of them asked.

"I agree, you have just spent a large amount of chakra." The other added.

"Don't worry about me." Ino replied as she wiped some sweat off her brow. 'Ok, just as long as your sure." Both medics bowed as walked off, no doubt to treat other patients.

'_Wha…what are they talking about, what's going on?'_ Cloud wondered, he then tried to sit up.

"Oh no you don't, you lie still mister," Ino said as she forced him back down, "You've just been through a terrible ordeal, your heart stopped beating for a full minute and it took a lot of work to restart it. So please lie still and try and rest up."

'What, a minute…' Cloud's eyes widened in shock at this, _'All of that…Sephiroth…Zack…Aerith, it was only a minute…!'_

"CLOUD!" a high-pitched cry snapped Cloud out of his thoughts and looked round in time to see Yuffie come charging in his direction with Tifa close behind. "Cloud you lunk head," Yuffie half yelled, "Have you any idea what you put through." She tried to dive towards him, whether it was to embrace or throttle him Cloud wasn't sure, but Ino managed to stop her.

"I wouldn't recommend doing that." She told the shorter of the two brunettes, "I'm not finished patching Strife-sama back together and it would be rather inconvenient to have to start over again."

"I guess that would be a problem." Yuffie said in a disheartened tone. Just then a nurse came up to Ino telling her that Sakura needed her assistance, hearing this Ino excused herself. Once the blond was gone Tifa knelt down beside her old friend,

"Hi…Cloud."

"T…Tifa." Cloud managed to croak out, "Wh…what are you doing here? What's going on?"

"You don't remember?" Tifa said in a worried sounding tone.

"No. The last thing I remember is fighting this guy with black hair and red eyes." Cloud replied, "After that there are these flashes, disjointed…confusing…"

"Hey don't worry about." Tifa told him, "Everything's gonna be ok."

* * *

Elsewhere Ino had arrived at the spot where Sakura was trying to treat Kitsune, she'd had him moved to Iruka's office that had been emptied of its furniture and now had medical cot set up on which Kitsune now lay. The blond Kumo ninja was in the same state that Cloud had been in but with one difference. Kitsune hadn't woken up.

Despite her best to keep calm the rosette couldn't seem to quell the turmoil that was boiling inside her, it had taken opening three of her chakra seals but she had managed to restart his heart but it was weak and it seemed to be taking everything she had just to keep it going and even then it was looking like it was going to give out at any moment. It seemed like that no matter she did Kitsune was no closer to waking up. _'Come on Naruto, work with me here...'_ she thought, _'Do you hate me so much that you'd rather die then let me help you? If you keep doing this I'm going to have to use...'_

"Sakura," Looking round Sakura saw Ino standing there, "You need me?"

"Yes," Sakura replied, "How much chakra do you have? I know you've just finished working on Cloud-sama but I really need your help here."

"Enough I guess." Ino replied, not really sure what her old friend wanted her to do. "I'm gonna be frank with you Ino, I don't think I can save Naruto by myself." Sakura said, "I need your help."

"What do you need me to do?" Ino asked.

"I'm going to need you to try keep him stable. " Sakura told her, "His heartbeat is weak, it's taking all I have to just keep it going."

"Uh ok." Ino said, "But why me, I mean there are like a dozen other medics here. Why not just get one of them to help you?"

Sakura looked over at the prone form of her former teammate. "Because I need to prepare to do something foolhardy and possibly life threatening." She told the blond, "Anyone else would tell me not to and how its not worth the risk."

"And how do you know I won't?" Ino retorted, not liking where this was going.

"Because I need to do this Ino," Sakura said, her voice carrying a tone of sadness, "I have to do this. For him."

Ino sighed; she now knew why Sakura had asked for her. Even if she did argue she knew her friend well, that any pleas would just fall on deaf ears, "OK then, lets get to work."

* * *

Back in the limbo dimension Kitsune found himself once again surrounded by the nine Akatsuki members, glancing quickly from one to the next he tried to come up with a plan of attack. _'Ok, so what's the situation here. These guys are seemingly faster then me and more skilled.'_ "Y'know all this silent stuff is really starting to bug me." He told his adversaries, "So why don't you just drop it already and show me who you are." His silent assailants glanced at one another before eight of them suddenly shimmered out of existence leaving only one behind, the figure pulled back his hood and removed his mask, Kitsune's eyes widened at the face of the person staring back at him...himself. "Wh…what is this?" he stammered, "What the hell are you?"

"Who am I?" his counterpart replied, "I am the embodiment of all the things that you hate about yourself. I am your anger, your envy, your greed, your hate. I am the you that hate's the people of Konoha for all that they did to you. I am the you that killed that Oni no Kuni Priestess, I am the you who enjoyed it."

"You're lying." Kitsune retorted, "There's no way that can be true, you can't be me."

"That's only because you don't want to admit to it." Dark Kitsune said, "Everyone has a side of themselves that they keep hidden, things about themselves they hope never to see the light of day. Those things culminate in who you are, and when the time comes those are things that we are judged on." Dark Kitsune slowly began walking towards regular Kitsune. "It is your time to be judged. You will come with me, we will travel to the place where you will receive judgment."

"You stay back." Kitsune demanded, "There's no way in hell that I'm going anywhere with you."

"You truly think you have a choice here," Dark Kitsune said, "You have no way of defeating me, I am aware of every trick and technique you possess. I know how you think and what is going through your mind right this second. You will come with me, one way or another."

* * *

Back in the real world Ino had set about the task that Sakura had assigned her and was doing everything in her power to keep Kitsune stable. Said rosette was looking over a scroll that she had rolled out on the floor. After several minutes she straightened up and rolled up the scroll. "Ok, I'm ready." Walking over to Kitsune's prone form Sakura began forming a string of at least 10 hand seals before placing her hands on Kitsune's face. "ITONAMI KIRIKAE NO JUTSU! Life Exchange!"

Ino's eyes widened in horror at this. Sakura's hands started emitting a white aura that slowly spread to Kitsune enveloping him. Whilst this happened Ino stared at the pair. _'Itonami Kirikae, a jutsu that takes a person's life energy and uses it to heal another's injuries.' _She looked at Sakura, sweat pouring from the rosettes brow as her breathing became labored, _'Why Sakura, are you so desperate to save him that she's using this technique?'_

This continued for what seemed like hours (really it was only ten minutes) and still Sakura persisted, but there seemed to be no change in Kitsunes condition. Her skin paled and sweat pouring off her Sakura continued to pump more and of her chakra into Kitsune's body.

'_Come on, come on Naruto…'_ Sakura grimaced as she stared down at him; all the while her vision began to go fuzzy and her body became weaker. Soon enough her legs gave out and she sank to her knees, despite this however her hands never moved from Kitsunes body.

'_Ok, that's it. Enough'_ Ino marched over and grabbed ahold of her friend and pulled her back.

"I…Ino…" Sakura said in a tired sounding whisper.

"Sakura, that's enough." Ino told her, "Tell me, how much did you give him?"

Sakura closed her eyes, "Ten…ten years. I traded ten years of my life."

Ino's eyes widened in shock. _'Itonami Kirikae, what a terrible technique. It can heal person's injuries but does so by converting the users life energy, the longer its used the shorter your life span becomes. Sakura said that Tsunade-sama told her never to use it unless under the most dire of circumstance.'_

"Ino…" hearing Sakura's voice snapped Ino out of her musings, "Please, don't tell anyone about this. Especially not Naruto."

"What!" Ino exclaimed, "After everything you just did to save his damn life, your not going to tell him?"

"Please, he can't know. " Sakura replied in a tired tone, "If for just once I can save his life, even if he hates me, its enough." She then drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Back in the limbo realm Kitsune was once again trying to engage his dark counterpart, and like before wasn't doing very well. Every punch he threw was blocked, every kick was avoided. Just as he threw another punch Dark Kitsune ducked down out of the way and aimed a punch of his own at Kitsune catching him in the gut. The punch was enough to knock the blond ninja backwards giving his opponent an open for another blow, this one catching his cheek and sent him sprawling. Groaning Kitsune rolled onto his front, just as he was trying to push himself back up he noticed something off into the distance. It was the old Academy building, although he couldn't be sure he could swear that the door was glowing with some kind of weird energy.

Before he could contemplate this any further a foot collided with his back forcing him back down to the ground. Looking over Kitsune saw his counterpart standing there staring back at him. "Tsk, don't you every give up?" Our hero said.

"I'm part of you remember, that same stubborn attitude of yours is just as much as part of me." Dark Kitsune replied, "Although in this situation I would very much advise against it. You are beaten, so just swallow your pride and accept your fate already."

His face twisting into a scowl Kitsune glared at his opponent, as he did he felt something stirring within him slowly seeping through his body, he couldn't explain it but somehow he felt revitalized. Letting out a cry he pushed himself upwards knocking his counterpart off balance and stumbling backwards. Instantly Kitsune rounded on him. "No, I refuse to accept anything you say." He declared, "There's no way in hell I'll every accept that you are part of me, I denounce you."

Dark Kitsune stared back at his light counterpart, his cold eyes never moving from him. "Deny it all you want, you cannot escape me nor the deeds you have done." he said in a cold tone, "As I have said I know everything you are capable of and what you can do and how to counter it, you stand no chance against me."

Just then a hand appeared on his shoulder. "Maybe but can you say the same about me." a voice said.

Surprised both Kitsunes looked over and caught sight of two figures standing there. The first was a man with spiky blond hair clad in a standard Jounin's uniform with a white coat with red flames decorating it thrown over the top. The second was a woman with long red hair that was tied back into a ponytail and was dressed similarly to her male companion. Both of them had a Hatai-ate tried around their foreheads with the Konoha leaf engraved on the metal plate. Kitsunes eyes were wide with shocked awe and confusion at the sight of them.

_'No... No way...the Yondaime Hokage, but who's that woman?'_

"What is this?" Dark Kitsune demanded, "How did you get here?"

"Now, now, let's not get all wrapped up in the little details." the Yondaime said off-handily, "We're here, lets just leave it at that."

The woman then approached Dark Kitsune, her face twisted into a cold expression, "You made a big mistake in threatening him, for that I'm going to have to teach you a lesson."

Dark Kitsune seemed to be rather taken aback by these words but wasn't given a chance to dwell on this as instead of engaging him she ran towards Kistune and embraced him burying her head in his chest much to his surprise.

"I…I can't believe it, seeing you." She sobbed out, "It only seems like five minutes ago that I was holding you in my arms, I'm so sorry that I couldn't be there for you, to see you grow up into the handsome man you are now."

"Err, lady…just who are you?" Kistune asked.

The woman looked up towards him, tears still rolling from her eyes, a sad smile on her face, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you don't recognize me, you were only a few minutes old after all." She then released him and turned her attention back to Kitsune's dark counterpart, "You should go now, Minato and I will deal with him."

"But what about you, I mean I've tried and I couldn't even lay a finger on this guy." Kitsune said.

"Don't worry, I've got a few tricks of my own up my sleeve." The red head said. She then began moving towards Dark Kitsune. The blond male, that the red head had identified as Minato took out an odd looking kunai which he then hurled at the dark blond. Seeing this Dark Kitsune ducked out of the way of the projectile. Just then a smirk appeared on Minato's face before he vanished from view, "HIRAISHIN NO JUTSU! Flying Thunder God!"

Confused Kitsune was about to say something when suddenly he felt something grab ahold on him. Next thing he knew he was standing in front of the door of the Academy building alongside the Yondaime. Seeing this Dark Kitsune dashed towards the pair but what stopped when the red head cast some kind of jutsu involving chains that bound him.

"Oh no you don't" She told him, "I'm not going to allow you to interrupt."

Meanwhile Kitsune was trying to comprehend what was going on.

"You should go now, I believe everyone's waiting for you." Minato said, he then pushed the buildings doors open, revealing an almost blinding light on the other side, "I know things may seem pretty bleak right not but I want you to know that I believe you'll find the answer, Kushina and I we both believe in you."

"What are you saying, why are you doing this?" Kitsune demanded, "Why are you of all people doing all this for me."

Minato stared back at him, a sad smile; he then placed his hand on Kitsunes head and ruffled his hair. "It's the duty of all adults to unconditionally believe in their children."

Kitsunes eyes widened in shock at these words, he stared at the Yondaime trying to come up with something to say however any thing he could come up with seemed to die before it could leave his mouth. Minato offered him one last smile before he placed his hand on Kitsunes chest and pushed him through the door.

* * *

Back in the waking world Ino had picked Sakura off the floor and set her down on a chair beside Kitsune's bed. Just then a coughing sound caught her attention and looking round saw Kitsunes eyes slowly open. "Naruto…" she said in whispered tone.

His body racked with pain Kitsune tried to sit up however the weariness from near constant travelling and fighting, not to mention transforming into his six tail form, had caught up to him leaving him unable to move. His vision clearing he found himself staring up rather familiar looking ceiling.

'_Whaa…'_ Just then he noticed the other people with him, turning his head to see Ino standing over him. "I…" he tried to make out however it seemed much like the rest of him his vocal cords hadn't recovered either.

"Shhh, don't try to say anything. Just rest." She told him, "Its over, your going to be ok now." Hearing this Kitsune closed his eyes again and drifted off into a dreamless slumber. Ino looked at him and then at a slumbering Sakura, "Naruto when you wake up, you'd better damn well appreciate what Sakura did to save you."

* * *

Several days had past since the invasion, in that time the villages civilian population as well as the council had returned (many of them were confused as to why Kumo soldiers were helping to guard vital areas of the village) , a funeral service had been held for all those who had fallen during the attack and now the rebuilding of the village had begun. However there were still questions that needed answers and now the village council had convened in a private chamber within the Hokage's tower to discuss events and try to figure out what to do next. Present were the heads of each of Konoha's clans and as well as other divisions of the military as well as Garra accompanied by Temari and Aoi accompanied by Samui. Rising from her chair Tsunade greeted them.

"Representatives of Konoha, as your all aware the village has survived a terrible ordeal. In light of this there is much to be done, however that is not the reason I have called you all here today." She said, "In the wake of Orochimaru's latest attempt to destroy us certain things have come to light and that is the reason we have gathered, we must decide what we must do about it."

"Well said Tsunade-sama, however before we get to that there are some things I'm sure several of us are curious about. First, why is Hatake Kakashi not present?" Hiashi Hyuuga asked.

Tsunade glanced over at Jiraiya before addressing him, "The Hokage was wounded during the battle for our village and has left me in charge until he is fit enough to return to his duties."

"I see," Hiashi said, his gaze then turned to the Raikage and her escort, "Next I'm sure everyone would like to know what she is doing here?"

To everyone's surprise it was Garra who answered the Hyuuga elder. "The Raikage is present due to the role she and her army played during the Oto/Iwa/Kusaga invasion." The red haired Kage told him, "Despite initially wanting to stay out of the conflict due to the bad blood that Kumo has had with Konoha in the past, when the time she came to your villages aid. Do you or any one else have a problem with that Hyuuga-sama?"

Smiling Aoi stood up, "Thank you for your kind words Kazekage-sama. Hyuuga-san I understand your mistrust of me and my village, however I assure you that I am not here to fight with you. For too long we have allowed the grudges of the past to cloud our judgment for us in the present, and if you will allow me I would very much like to build a better relationship between your village and mine."

"Very well said Raikage-sama. However such is talk for another time." Tsunade said, "Honored council members, in the past Orochimaru has committed many atrocities in order to strengthen his position and to interfere with the other nations, however he has now done something that goes against not just human decency but against the laws of nature itself. Somehow he was able to acquire a forbidden technology that had been developed here In Konoha, one that could allow someone to create artificial human beings created to follow any order that their creator desired." The sound of hushed whispers amongst the gathered council filled the chamber, Tsunade pausing to allow this to run its course.

"Tsunade-sama, this is most disturbing," Inochi Yanamaka spoke up, "If this is true then Orochimaru has become an even bigger menace to the world, the ability to create human beings is…is abhorrent."

"I agree." Choza Akimichi added, "The man has dared to spit in the eye of god."

"I'm afraid that it does not end there however." Tsunade told the pair, "However I will turn the floor over to Sakura Haruno, who over the last few days has been examining each of these new Oto soldiers and has compiled her findings to present to us."

The doors of the chamber opened and in walked Sakura, who was now in much better shape then she had been after treating Kitsune. Standing before the council she cleared her throat and began.

"Honored council members, as shishou has told you Oto has bred a new kind of Shinobi. After many hours of examination I can tell you he has done so using human DNA combined with other strains from other sources, as such he several different types. The first type which is about the same size as the average person we have dubbed 'soldier' we have found they most clearly make up the bulk of Orochimaru's army. The second type which is shorter then the average person we've dubbed as 'scout' are clearly designed to be swifter and more agile, the third type which is much larger and more muscular we refer to as 'titan' is clearly designed to be physically stronger." She paused a moment before carrying on. "However the one thing that they all have in common is that they all share the same base DNA, which we've identified the owner of. It belongs to Naruto Uzumaki."

There was then an outburst from the gathered council members, each of them adding to the cacophony as they made their opinions.

"How can this be, how could Orochimaru have gotten ahold of him?" Tsume Inuzuka demanded.

"Clearly the demon child has joined forces with Oto." A random council member told her, "I always knew that it couldn't be trusted. Sarutobi was a great man however he was a fool to allow it to live."

Before anyone could say anything else an ominous pressure filled the room, the sheer weight of it was enough for many of the gathered people to have trouble breathing. It didn't take long to discover the source: Garra.

The Kazekage stood there, although his expression had not shifted his gaze betrayed his fury. "Let me assure you that the Naruto Uzumaki that I know would do no such thing." he said, his voice calm and even, "I'm sure you're all aware of the person I used to be, filled with nothing but hate and lust for violence. He was the one who rescued me from darkness, helped me to realize that I wasn't alone in the world. It is people like you who call him 'demon' and 'monster' and blinded by prejudice who could not see him for the kind and loving person that he was. If you have a problem with Naruto Uzumaki then you will find yourself with one less ally since I have no desire to associate my village with such people."

"Well said Kazekage-sama." Jiraiya spoke up, "And I can also assure you Hyuuga-san that Naruto would in no way associate himself with people like Orochimaru by choice. I have confirmation from the snake himself that he managed to capture Naruto sometime after his banishment from Konoha, it was the ruling of this council that allowed Naruto to fall into enemy hands."

"Gentlemen." Aoi spoke up, her voice calm and even, she then looked over at Sakura and offered her a warm smile, "Haruno-san, please continue."

Composing herself Sakura continued. "As I was saying the examination of the remains of all of the fallen Oto ninja shows that Orochimaru used the DNA of Naruto Uzumaki to create his army. However there was one thing that turned up that may hold a clue not just to how he has managed to assemble his new forces but to his whereabouts." The rosette said, "Whilst examining the bodies I discovered an abnormality mixed in with their genetic coding, an enzyme that would allow for rapid growth in a short period of time. After some research I have discovered that this enzyme is similar to one produced by a particular species of plant that is only found in Mori no Kuni. Whilst I may not be an analyst, I would conclude that Orochimaru has either set up a lab near to where this plant grows or has acquired a sample and begun growing it in Oto."

"I see, that will be all Sakura." Tsunade told her former disciple, the rosette bowed before the council and exited the room. There was a pause as a haunting silence filled the room, each of the people gathered mulling over what had been presented to them.

"Well it seems that I'm off to Mori then." Jiraiya spoke up breaking the silence, "If that's alright with you Princess."

Tsunade glared at her former teammate but was quick to quash her feelings of annoyance, now was not the time for childish squabbling. "Correct you old toad," she then turned to the other members of the council, "Honored council members unless anyone has any objections it seems that our next move is clear. Send a team to infiltrate Mori no Kuni and locate and destroy Orochimaru's cloning facilities. With it gone he should be less of a threat to us and the other nations."

* * *

Not long had passed since Sakura had left the council chamber and was now making her way back to the hospital, no doubt a stack of requests that needed her approval would have accumulated on her desk in the time she had spent examining the remains of the Oto clones. She had entered the building and was making her way to her office when two things occurred to her, first was she had not had the chance to look in on Kitsune in the last few days.

The second was that she still had his wakizashi she'd picked up during the battle. Knowing that he would probably very much like the weapon returned to him, plus giving her an excuse to go check in on him Sakura doubled her pace to her office, where she'd kept said weapon, and before she knew it she was standing before the door the that lead to his room. Taking a deep breath she slid the door open and entered, the room was white and airy and typically the kind that Naruto hated.

Walking in she was greeted by something she had not expected, sitting up in bed was Kitsune, the sheet that had covered him had spooled in his lap revealing his tanned and toned chest, looking over at her. Doing her best not to seem flustered, as well as force back the blush that was starting to form on her face, Sakura approached the bed. "N…Naruto, your awake." She said, "That's great, especially after. Y'know what never mind."

"What's going on?" Kitsune asked as he rubbed his eyes with his arm, it was clear to the rosette now that he hadn't been awake for very long.

"We did it Naruto, we managed to repel the attack." She told him, "You've been out of it for five days now so you're a little behind the times."

Kitsune shot her a look. "Five days…" he said under his breath, "What are you doing here anyway?"

Sakura was slightly taken aback by his tone. "What do you mean, I'm a medic." She told him, "I'm here to look in on you."

Kitsune looked away from her. "Shouldn't you be busy keeping vigil over Sasuke?" he said in a cold tone.

"Whaa? Why would I…" Sakura exclaimed, she then tried to compose herself, "Sasuke's not here, he fell back into Orochimaru's hands again before he pulled out."

"I see, I assume the council is blaming me for this." Kitsune said in a bitter tone, "I suppose you're here to beg me to go after him and bring him back to you again."

This is what finally pushed Sakura to far, Kitsune's words finally caused something inside her to snap. "How the hell could you assume such a thing?" she demanded, "Do you really think I could ever care for him after everything's he's done, all the people he's hurt?"

"Why not, its not like you ever cared about the terrible things he did back when we were a team." Kitsune fired back, "No matter what he did, even if it was terrible, you either ignored it or had an excuse for his behavior. Why should it be any different now?" He then layback down on the bed and turned his back to her. "You've seen me, I'm awake. You can go now."

Sakura stood there; his words had cut deep into her and left her wondering just what had happened to Kitsune to make him this way. Slowly she took out the blonde's wakizashi and placed it on the bedside table. "I borrowed this during this invasion, back when we were fighting together. I felt it was best to return it to you." And without another word she promptly left the room.

* * *

AN And with that chapter 15 is fini, a little latter then I originally hoping but it is done. Before anything else I want to thank my proof reader, Jokerisdaking, thank you so so much for looking over this given your situation. I feel like such an ass for making you do it when you were in that state.

Second I want to say thank to all of the fine people who follows this little story of mine, thank you all for your patients and I hope this was worth the wait.

So here we are in the aftermath arc, a short rest-bite before the next major part of the plot gets underway, where you'll get to see most of the fallout from the Oto/Kusaga/Iwa invasion and what our hero's will deal with whats happened and what they'll do next.

Well that's me done for another chapter. Please remember to send your comments, seriously I can't tell you all how much your feedback means to me.

Until next time, peace out yo.


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